7 Quick Fix Meals for Hot Summer Afternoons

Summers are here. When I was a child, I really liked summers. They meant ripe mangoes, vacations, free time, playing all day, visits to my cousins and relatives and so much more. That perspective has cooking meals in a hot kitchen added to it now, and well things have changed.

Cooking  in Trichy, or even Thane (now that I am back home for the summers) in the afternoons is a real task! Hot weathers and then you spend hours cooking  in front of the gas with no fan. Nope, can't do it everyday. So I went back to my old recipes and tried to find a solution to this.

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Guess what? There are recipes I can use to make nutritious and wholesome meals for the family and me without literally sweating it out in the kitchen! Our mothers, grandmothers and even their mothers have been cooking in this summer heat for ages, and as always they've found solutions. I have taken them in, and added some modern twists to it.

1. Mixed Vegetable Thalipeeth

You can find the recipe here.

Mixed Vegetable Thalipeeth Recipe

 If there are only one or two people for a meal at home, then this is a great recipe to make. It takes literally 5-7 mins to grate the veggies and prepare the dough. And then about 3-5 minutes to make each thalipeeth. Loaded with veggies, these thalipeeths make for a complete meal. Serve with some yoghurt, and green chutney (recipe here), or til chutney (recipe here) or even this garlicky coconut chutney (recipe here).

2. Gujarati Osaman and Chhuti Dal


You can find the recipe here.

Osaman-Chhutti Dal- Bhaath Recipe

A one-bowl complete meal with rice. 15 minutes for the pressure cooker to cook the rice and dal and 10 minutes to flavour the osaman. Chop up some vegetables for a salad when the osaman is cooking and you have a complete meal that is flavourful, light and filling.

3. Fettucine in Pesto Sauce

You can find the recipe here.

Fettucine in Pesto Sauce Recipe

Italian is always a great option for summer. Light meals that cook quickly and are so flavourful without much ado. This recipe takes about 30 minutes end to end. Add in this light tomato and mozzarrella salad (recipe here) and you have a quick and complete meal.

4. Chicken Burger

You can find the recipe here.

Chicken Burger Recipe

A soft bun slathered with a mustard-mayo spread with a juicy chicken patty and crunchy lettuce. This amazingly quick-cooing burger is a delight for both children and adults.This burger only takes 10-15 minutes on the gas and the rest of the time, you can have the fan on as you assemble it! Add some more nutrients with this spiced lettuce, cherry tomato and olive salad (recipe here).


5.  Prawns in Thai Red Curry

You can find the recipe here.

Prawns in Thai Red Curry Recipe

Quick-cooking and tasty, prawns are another one of my summer favourite. This elegant and delicate curry of prawns is deceptive because it is absolutely simple and quick to cook. Grind the curry paste in 5 minutes and cook the prawns in another 10. Pair it with steamed rice and you have a winner. Try it and you'll love it!

6. Falafel Rolls

You can find the recipe here.

Falafel Rolls Recipe

Rolls are a great summer cooking option because once you cook the main filling, you can always assemble them out of the hot kitchen. Make them with rotis, add some vegetables for the crunch and some healthy sauces and you have one whole meal wrapped up!

7. Spicy Thai Rice Noodle Salad Recipe

You can find the recipe here.

Spicy Thai Rice Noodle Salad Recipe

If you like light meals like I do for summers, then this is a perfect dish for you. A delicious balance of spicy, salty, sweet, pungent and sour, this salad makes for a complete meal. I like pairing it with some soothing jasmine green tea. You can pair it with some lemon iced tea too (recipe here).

French Toast with Gula Melaka Syrup Recipe

In my last post, I showed you the simplest recipe ever of making gula melaka syrup.  You can find the recipe here. Now is the time to make use of it. With a bottle of gula melaka syrup and a thinking hat on, here is what I came up with! Presenting...French toast with Gula Melaka Syrup!

French Toast with Gula Melaka Syrup Recipe

French toast is an all-time breakfast favourite. You can make it sweet or savoury - either ways bread dipped in a fluffy egg batter and fried in butter is going to taste amazing! Many people have their favourite recipes of French toast and many like to try new recipes for it. I came up with this as a take on the classic French toast.

French Toast with Gula Melaka Syrup Recipe

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 2 minutes for each French Toast

Makes: a stack of 8 French toasts

Ingredients:

8 bread slices (brown or white)

6 eggs

2 tsps milk

2 tbsps butter

Gula melaka syrup for serving

Method:

Heat a flat griddle. 

In a bowl, mix the eggs and the milk. Beat briskly for two minutes till it is aerated.

Brush the griddle with some butter.

Dip a slice of bread in the egg batter and put on the griddle. Pour some batter over the toast as it cooks if needed. 

Cook to golden brown on both sides.

Serve with a little bit of gula melaka syrup on top.

Relish!

10 Quick Weekend Brunch Recipes

It's Friday! The day of the week everyone looks forward to. It's the last working day of the week which means weekend's going to be here soon!

10 Quick Weekend Brunch Recipes

Weekends mean waking up late, cooking easy and delicious meals and eating it with family and friends. Weekends mean brunches where kids look forward to treats, and older kids like us look forward to more treats!  

Here are ten delicious weekend brunch recipes that are quick to make and very yummy!

1. Veg Coleslaw Sandwich

The recipe can be found here.

Veg Coleslaw Sandwich

This is the most popular recipe on my blog. I've made a vegetarian version of the sandwich. It has a lightly flavoured garlicky yoghurt spread, with lots of crunchy veggies. Make it 15 minutes in advance, chill the spread a bit and serve fresh!

2. Masala Upma

The recipe can be found here.

Masala Upma

Masala upma is my take on the breakfast classic. I've used congruent tastes of rasam powder to spice up the traditional upma. Serve hot with a squeeze of lime and see it dissapear!

3. Waldorf Salad

The recipe can be found here.

Waldorf Salad

Waldorf salad is an American classic. Fresh sweet red apples are mixed with hints of sharp celery, crunchy walnuts and served in a creamy mayo dressing. The best way to have this is chilled and served on lettuce.

4. Fettucine in Pesto Sauce

The recipe can be found here.

Fettucine in Pesto Sauce

This one is for the kids! Which kid doesn't love pasta? Make the pesto sauce in advance. Cook this noodle pasta in 10 minutes, toss it with sauce and top it with parmesan, or your kid's favourite cheese. Serve with lots of love.

5. Homemade Apple Cinnamon Jam

The recipe can be found here.

Homemade Apple Cinnanmon Jam

Brunch can never be complete without some hot buttered toast slathered with a thick layer of jam. Make some homemade apple cinnamon jam for your next brunch. It takes about half an hour to make and is not rocket science! Feel free to gather all the praises!

6. Pan Seared Aubergines with a Yoghurt Dip

The recipe can be found here.

Pan Seared Aubergines with a Yoghurt Dip

Having friends over for brunch? Cook something 'fancy' in 15 minutes for them. This recipe preserved the flavour of aubergines and mixes it up with a light, refreshing yoghurt dip. Worried that your friends (of you for that matter) don't like aubergines? Trust me, people who hate aubergines have loved this dish and eaten loads of it!

7. Homemade Pizza Sauce for Pizzas

The recipe can be found here. 

Pizza with Homemade Pizza Sauce

Satisfy your weekend pizza cravings (I know you have them!) with pizzas made from a homemade sauce. It takes 10 minutes to make this sauce. You'll have something fresh and preservative free (which just tastes so much better!) on your pizzas. Trust me, your phone-dialling for pizzas is about to go down quite a bit!

8. Veg Hakka Noodles

The recipe can be found here.

Veg Hakka Noodles

This is another very popular recipe on my blog. A dish that is the favourite of adults and kids alike. It's very easy to make and the recipe demands for quick cooking as the technique to get the flavours right. So there you have it... a perfect recipe for a weekend brunch! 

9. Mooli Ke Paranthe

The recipe can be found here.

Mooli ke Paranthe

Do you crave carbs when you wake up on weekend mornings (or afternoons?) How do hot parathas sound? Make these mooli ke paranthe in 15 minutes. They are bursting with taste and love. Sounds like you need just a dollop of butter and a plate now.

10. Kulhad Masala Chai

The recipe can be found here. 

Kulhad Masala Chai

Is your first thought of the day "chai!" like me? Then brew yourself this spicy, sweet decoction and you won't be disappointed. You'll simply be hooked!

Three Step Broccoli Salad Recipe

I recently appeared for the final exams of my Masters course... and like all exam times I ended up having a very hectic schedule everyday. This schedule left me no time for making elaborate lunches and dinners. And rather than rely on preservative-laden instant foods or heavily oily and spicy restaurant food, I prefer to make quick meals of soups and salads. One such recipe I 'came up' with during these exams (when I was supposed to be focussed on studying) was this quick broccoli salad.

Three Step Broccoli Salad

The three-step broccoli salad can be made in 5 minutes and is light, filling and tasty. In this salad, the typical pungent and astringent flavour of broccoli combines well with the sweet, spicy and sour Thai Sweet Chilli sauce based dressing. 

Three Step Broccoli Salad Up Close

This salad can be had by itself for a light yet filling summer meal. It can also be had as a side-dish with a meal of Thai Red Curry or Thai Green Curry and steamed rice. Here's how you can enjoy this salad at your home:

Three Step Broccoli Salad Recipe

Preparation Time: 8 minutes

Assembly Time: 2 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

2 cups broccoli florets

3 cups water

1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

A pinch of salt

For the dressing

1 tsp lemon juice

2 tbsps Thai Sweet Chilly Sauce

Method

Step 1: Bring the water to a boil in a sauce pan with a pinch of salt. Add broccoli florets for two minutes. Drain and run under cold water. 

Step 2: Mix together the lemon juice and the Thai Sweet Chilly Sauce.

Step 3: Pour the dressing over the florets and garnish with sesame seeds.

And voila! Your salad is ready to eat!