Cooking Tips, How to's, tricks

Makar Sankranti Food and Traditions to Celebrate the Festival

January 13, 2019 By Rekha Kakkar 4 Comments

The year has kick-started and a new year brings to us, a new calendar! 14th January is marked as the festive celebration of Makar Sankranti or Maghi Sangrand. We associate this day with kites, dahi, til chikki and many other attributes of fun and celebration. This day signifies the movement of the sun into the Capricorn sun sign.

It has multiple names: West India adopts it as Makar Sankranti, South India as Pongal and North India as Lohri. This day usually signals the inception of the famous Kumbh Mela in Uttar Pradesh and completion of the harvesting season in Punjab and other parts of North India….

Indian Meal Plan-Weekly Dinner Plan-10

December 22, 2018 By Rekha Kakkar 4 Comments

Indian Meal Plan with recipes for a week. Since this is the tenth edition of Indian meal plan, I feel like celebrating. This week’s meal plan is a mix of Indian and Chinese. All these recipes are easy to cook and can be put together in less than 30 minutes. I believe you can cook perfect dinner or lunch and be a step ahead with meal prep.

Meal prep saves time and allows you to have your breakfast or lunch without worrying about what to cook for dinner every day. I have been doing meal preps for years now. It not only saves me money but time as well.

Neither I have to rush and buy veggies every day nor have to wreck my brain for everyday dinner ideas. Meal prep is also an excellent way of staying healthy and in shape. With meal prep, you are in total control of your eating habits so there are no rushed decisions that lead to junks or cheesy pizzas. If you are new then Meal Prep Guide For Beginners will help you plan your meals accordingly.

My tenth edition of Indian meal prep is full of spicy Chinese dish that would put any restaurant joints to shame and delicious Indian dishes for nights of lazy comfort food. All you have to do is read the meal prep, select from the dinner ideas, buy the ingredients from the grocery list and enjoy a hustle free week. All these recipes come under 30 minutes meal. It is a perfect meal plan for busy people.

I would also like to take a moment and thank all of you for sending feedbacks on The Indian Meal Plan series. It is because of you all that I continue sharing these tips and plans. 🙂

Here are another set of Meal Plans if you want to look for simple Indian cuisines. There is also a 20 Minutes meals section on the website, so even if you are not really prepared for the whole week’s commitment you can cook a decent Indian meal in under 20 Minutes.

My other Meal Plans for busy mums and college going students that you can read is-

Now, with weekly meal plan-10, you can relax and spend your week planning the Christmas celebrations than what to cook for dinner. All you have to do is buy the ingredients from the grocery list below and let your refrigerator experience the aroma of fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the week.

I would also suggest that you buy the grocery at the start of the week so that you only focus on executing the meal prep until the weekend. Be prepared to enjoy mouthwatering dishes throughout the weekend. All these recipes mentioned below are simple, rich, easy, healthy & delicious meals that you can enjoy with your friends and family.

Other than this week’s meal plan, you can also try other Weekly Meal Plans like Weekly Meal Plan-1, Weekly Meal Plan-2, Weekly Meal Plan-3, Weekly Meal Plan-4, Weekly Meal Plan-5.

The grocery list for Weekly Meal Plan-10 is-

Grocery List-

Vegetables/Fruits

Carrots
Cucumber
Armenian cucumbers/ Kakdi
French Beans
Cabbage
Capsicum
Onion
Spring Onion
Green Chilies
Mushrooms
Rice
Milk
Pistachio
Almonds
Cashew
Raisins
Dates(seedless)
Sugar
Saffron
Green Cardamom, cardamom powder
Paneer/ Cottage Cheese
Sprig Curry leaves
Corriander leaves
Cloves
Chironji
Vermicelli broken seviyan
Whole wheat flour
Ghee
Oil
Black eye beans/ Lobia beans
Mizuna leaves
Pomegranate pearls
Pine Nuts toasted
Lime juice
Sumac or Lemon zest
Tomato
Potato
Peas
Masoor Dal
Butter White
Sponge cake
Custard Powder
Whipped Cream
Chilled Black Coffee
Cocoa Powder
Grated chocolate
Chicken (Boneless)
Roasted and skinned Peanuts
Coconut desiccated
ice cream scoops/vanilla
Rose syrup
Rice vermicelli
Chia seeds
Yogurt/Dahi
Mizuna leaves
Peppercorn
Celery
Chickpeas
Honey
Quinoa
Cornstarch
Whole wheat noodles
White bread slices

Basic Spices

Garam masala powder/paste
Dried Kasuri Methi
Turmeric powder
Red chili powder
Tamarind lemon paste ball size
Red chilies dried whole
Ginger-garlic paste
Coriander powder
Cumin seeds
Star anise
Mace flower
Cinnamon stick
Salt

Meal Preparation To Do On Weekends

Boil eggs
Boil Potatoes
Wash vegetables
Chop onion, tomatoes, and other vegetables
Boil Dal
Make Onion paste and tomato paste (It will be easier if you make Bhuna masala)
Ginger-garlic paste
Knead dough for Chapati/Paratha

Dinner plan for the week

Monday

Overcome your Monday blues by feasting on this spicy Veg Manchurian with Schezwan rice. You can go make steamed rice if you want to keep it simple yet delicious. End the night with a quick gujrati drink Basundi.

Tuesday

Tuesdays are all about soft and tender cottage cheese cooked in spice Kali Mirch along with laccha paratha/chapati and rice kheer for dessert.

Wednesday

Keep your dinner healthy yet delicious with Tariwali Egg Curry, jeera rice/paratha, and white bean salad.

Thursday

After a hectic day at work or college, treat yourself with some mouthwatering comfort food. Make Aloo Matar paneer, steamed rice, sabut masoor dal, and chapati/paratha for dinner. After a comforting meal, you deserve a treat by having coffee custard, and cake pudding.

Friday

Fridays are happy days. So, invite your friends for dinner and cook Hyderabadi chicken. Serve this spicy yet delicious Hyderabadi chicken with egg fried rice/paratha. Since it is the weekend, make some rose falooda and enjoy it with your friends.

Saturday

What is a better way to enjoy the weekend than by having homemade Egg Biryani with Cucumber Raita, Mizuna quinoa salad, and sheer khurma?

Sunday

Before you go back to no-chill Monday enjoy a hearty dinner by making food at home. Make Paneer Chili, Vegetable Hakka Noodles, paratha/chapati for dinner and enjoy it with shahi tukda.

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Must-Try Recipes For Navratri – No Onion No Garlic Recipes

October 9, 2018 By Rekha Kakkar 2 Comments

A delicious collection of easy No onion no garlic recipes for Navratri. If you are in dilemma of finding recipes without onion and garlic during Navratri Period that is tasty and easy. This is our collection of No onion no garlic recipes for those times.

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Onion Garlic free Recipes for Pitru Paksha or Shradh

September 27, 2018 By Rekha Kakkar 5 Comments

Here is the list of full-flavoured and effortless onion garlic free recipes that taste so good that you won’t even notice the absence of these two! Pitru Paksha/shradh is the time of the year where Hindus pay offerings to their ancestors. There are many customs followed during this period and forbidding onion or garlic is one of them. So we have compiled a collection of Indian vegetarian recipes without onion and garlic for Pitru Paksha.

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Lunch Box Ideas for Adults

September 22, 2018 By Rekha Kakkar 8 Comments

It is time to give your boring lunch boxes a healthy and tasty makeover! With these incredibly delicious healthy lunch box ideas for an adult, you can pack a healthy lunch box every day. Last week I discussed everyday healthy lunch box ideas for kids and adult. SO continuing with the same theme I am posting here few of my every day packed lunch box ideas for office that I personally carry.

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Food To Eat in August-according to the Zodiac Sign

August 4, 2018 By Rekha Kakkar 3 Comments

Ever wondered why your Leo friend loves spicy but you just can’t seem to resist the rasgullas? It may be because Our Stars and zodiac sign affect our food choices as well! Here’s our favourite list of best recipes for August. The food you can eat in August as per what is your zodiac sign.

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How to Cook Perfect Quinoa – 5 Easy Quinoa Recipes

August 2, 2018 By Rekha Kakkar 1 Comment

I love quinoa! But you know it already, and by now I think I have learned to make perfect quinoa. In this post I am going to share with you how to cook quinoa. Not Just How to make quinoa, but quinoa in rice cooker, Instant Pot quinoa as well. So that you can make perfect quinoa for all your quinoa recipes, whether it is quinoa bowl, quinoa salad or quinoa recipes Indian style.

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Indian Meal Prep 101- Indian Meal Plan and Meal Prep Ideas Beginners Guide

July 31, 2018 By Rekha Kakkar 11 Comments

Weekly Indian meal prep for Indian kitchen. It is so heartening to see meal prep gaining momentum in Indian Kitchens. I have been doing meal prepping for years now. Meal prep a great way to save time and money and allows to have more time to pursue other things. So I thought to share my quick weekly meal prep for Indian Kitchen in this Meal prep 101.

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Egg recipes for breakfast – 20 Minutes Breakfast Recipes

July 18, 2018 By Rekha Kakkar Leave a Comment

Eggs for breakfast? Yes please! This is my morning mantra. No matter where I am, I simply love egg powerhouse of nutrition and so versatile that there are endless variations of egg recipes for breakfast. Here’s some of my favourite egg recipes to kick start your mornings on a healthier note.

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How to Season Cast Iron Skillet

June 3, 2018 By Rekha Kakkar Leave a Comment

Simplest and easy method to season Cast iron skillet. I use a cast iron skillet and cast iron pan in my everyday cooking. With time seasoning of cast iron pan withers off. Seasoning the cast iron skillet and pan keep them good for years and your cast iron will last for generations. Here’s a simple method of how to maintain and season cast iron.

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