Stir Fried Red Amaranth Leaves with Caramelized Onions

Dear All,

I was introduced to Red Amaranth leaves recently and to my surprise I absolutely loved it! Though I have seen them in the market but never had tasted them before. I was always intrigued by the gorgeous pinkish purplish color of these leaves and they always looked very attractive to me, to an extent that I had requested my mom to get me a T of the same color ...lol :D Oh well the good old childhood days of innocence :) 

Amaranth leaves are also known as Chinese Spinach. These are highly nutritious in nature and loaded with vitamins like A, B1, B2 and C, calcium, iron and potassium. These leaves are low in fat and helps in prevention of various disorders like Respiratory disorders, Retarded growth etc. For more information on health benefits check here and to know the detailed nutrient facts check here.

Just like all the other leafy vegetable these reduce to 1/4 when cooked. One bunch serves one to two persons.

Stir Fried Red Amaranth Leaves With Caramelized Onions
Ingredients:- Serves 2
2 bunches of fresh red amaranth leaves, washed and chopped finely
1 tsp oil
1 - 2 dry red chillies
Salt to taste
a pinch of asafoetida
1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves chopped
1 portion caramelized onion (recipe below)

Procedure:-

• In a heavy bottom pan, heat oil, add in dry red chillies and a pinch of asafoetida (hing).
• Now stir in the chopped red amaranth leaves and mix well. Add in salt to taste and mix well.
• Within few minutes the leaves will shrunk just like Spinach, cover and cook over low flame for 5 to 8 mins. Dont forget to stir in between.
• Finally add freshly chopped coriander and caramelized onions and mix well.
• Cover and cook for another 2 mins.
• Serve hot with rotis or parathas.

For Caramelized Onions:-
1 big red onion , thinly sliced
1 tsp oil
2 tsp brown sugar

Procedure:- 

• In heavy bottom pan heat the oil, add in finely sliced onions and saute for 2 mins.
• Add in brown sugar and saute the onions over low flame for another 3 to 4 mins until they get lightly browned.
• Your caramelized onions are ready!

Verdict? This dish is simplicity at its best! Simple and easy to cook, gets ready in under 15 mins and jam packed with healthy nutrients! I have already prepared this dish 2 times in the last week and everyone just loves it! Make sure you wash the leaves properly under running water for atleast 10 mins. Enjoy this sweet and spicy stir fry veggie with ghee rice or with parathas, anyway you do I am sure you will ask for more!

Have a wonderful week ahead!

Celebrating 1st Anniversary with Eggless Blueberry Coffee Cake

Dear All,

I know a lot of you were expecting a cake from my side to celebrate my blog's first anniversary, finally the wait is over and with drum rolls please I present to you Eggless Blueberry Coffee Cake!! My sister is crazy behind blueberry though she has never had them before and hence she really wanted to taste them, she even asked me if I could request my colleagues to get some fresh blueberries from Switzerland while they are coming back...can you believe it? This time to my visit to Alfa I got a tan of blueberry pie filling and I immediately thought of my sis, I am sure she would love to gobble down the entire tin with some fresh cream, she is crazy behind fresh cream too and her waist line permits her to do so :) 

Before my darling sis could empty the entire tin I planned to put them to good use. Quite sometime back I had bookmarked DK recipe for Eggless Blueberry Coffee Cake which really looked too good to be true for an eggless one! I decided to use the blueberry pie filling in place of fresh ones, if nothing else it certainly increases the moistness of the cake though I would highly recommend using fresh ones, as in India we dont get fresh blueberries I had to substitute them. DK has also used applesauce, another ingredients not easily available here, so I substituted it with curd. To make the cake less in fat I have used oil in place of butter but I will recommend everyone to use butter as i think the cake wasnt as rich as it would be with some real butter!

Ingredients:-
2 cups all purpose flour
1  cup vanilla sugar or normal
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup beaten curd
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup fresh blueberries or blueberry pie filling

Procedure:-

• Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Grease and flour a pound cake tin.
• Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda keep it aside.
• In a bowl beat sugar and oil for 2 mins until well blended. Add in vanilla extract , again beat for a min.
• Beat in flour mixture along with sour cream and curd alternatively in well blended.
• Finally fold in the blueberry filling and mix gently, donot beat.
• Pour the batter and bake at 190 degrees C for 45 to 50 mins until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Serve warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream or some whipped fresh cream.
• Enjoy!!

Verdict? My sister loved this cake and according to her its heavenly with a dollop of fresh cream :D I would highly recommend serving this cake warm with some fresh cream or vanilla ice cream, the combo is unbeatable! Hope you all enjoyed the cake and thank you once again for your wishes!

My First Blog Anniversary !!!

Dear All,

I am extremely happy to share with you all that today my blog completes one successful year in blogoshpere and I wish to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of you who have inspired and encouraged me. Without support from you all this would not have been possible. When last year i decided to start this blog I didnt know that it will become my passion one day and so very important part of my life. It has given me an identity, before when i typed "Parita" in Google I used to get Gulf of Parita or Parita a town in Panama but today Parita's World turns up within the first few entries which is really a fantastic feeling!!!

I cannot sign off before thanking few people who inspired me to start my own blog, a heartfelt thanks to Priya and Deeba whose blogs i used to visit regularly and my dear buddy Nithya who has constantly encouraged me and been a true friend.

Last but not the least my very close and dear friend Dev without whom I would have quit blogging a long time back. With all the work pressures and deadlines to meet it becomes next to impossible to feed your blog regularly. A very heartfelt thanks to D who supported me and inspired through the tough times, it really meant a lot to me and I really love you for that!

Hope you all had a very relaxing weekend!