Refreshing Melon Salad Recipe | How to make Watermelon salad | Watermelon and Feta Salad [Video]

Refreshing Melon Salad with sweet and juicy watermelon and muskmelon, tossed along with onions, olives, mint leaves and feta cheese. Dressing with an instant balsamic vinegar dressing. Perfect for the hot summer days when the fruits are in season. 

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This year the temperatures started rising in March and it became so hot that I'd begun hating stepping into the kitchen. The thought of the hot stove or even hot food made me balk a few times. And at times like this, I crave a juicy sweet Watermelon that is fresh out of the fridge. And hence came this salad.

Yes, we didn't invent this salad. It's been a family favorite for quite a few years now. We've even tried a deconstructed or reconstructed fine dining version with feta smeared all over large watermelon cubes with little droplets of balsamic. No, thank you, we'd like to stick to the classics.

So this year, we eventually made this salad at home. And coz we did, we also added a bunch of other things we love like muskmelons or cantaloupe and pepitas. When you watch the recipe, you may find it a little busy in the bowl, but trust me, these flavors work together.

And the best part of this salad is, it's so quick to whip up. If you do as I do, prep all your fruits in advance, it cuts down on time massively. And this is a good tip, not just for the salad, but to generally eat your melons. Having a box of already cut melon just increases your chances of eating something healthy. I mean, haven't we all opened the fridge door and stared at all those boxes in there, just thinking of what we could grab and eat. Melons may just be the box you grab next time.

Can this Salad be Veganized?

Absolutely, yes!! Read on...

All the fruits and vegetables are already vegan/plant-based, so you are good on that front. There are just 3 ingredients you want to be careful/change - Honey, Balsamic Vinegar and Feta Cheese.

• Swap honey with maple syrup.
• Traditional Balsamic Vinegar is always vegan. A cheaper supermarket version may have colors and flavors added, that could end up being non-vegan. Search for a certified Balsamic that is made traditionally, or carefully research the ingredient list of the bottle you plan to buy.
• Feta cheese, replace the feta cheese with vegan feta cheese or get creative with some smoked or flavored Tofu.

Enjoy!!

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo @oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are up to.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

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Refreshing Melon Salad Recipe | How to make Watermelon salad | Watermelon and Feta Salad

A quick and refreshing Summer salad made of watermelon, musk melon or cantaloupe, feta cheese and dressed with balsamic vinaigrette.

Recipe Type:   Salad
Cuisine:            International
Prep Time:     30 minutes
Total time:     30 minutes
Yield:                Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 cups diced Watermelon,

1 cup diced Muskmelon,

1 Cucumber, diced,

1 small Onion, sliced,

5 to 8 Olives, sliced,

50 gms Feta Cheese,

1 cup Mint leaves,

Handful of pumpkin seeds (pepitas),

2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar,

1 Tbsp Honey,

1 tsp Pink peppercorns ( or Black pepper ),

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Take a large bowl and add the watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, onions, olives, mint leaves and pumpkin seeds.
2. Crumble the feta cheese on top
3. In a bowl, mix together the balsamic vinegar and honey.
4. Pour over the salad
5. Sprinkle salt as per taste on the salad
6. If using pink peppercorns, gently crush them and add to the salad. If using black pepper powder, add to the salad as per taste.
7. Mix the salad well and serve immediately.

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Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

Grilled Cauliflower Summer Bowl

Chickpea Salad

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Sev Paratha Recipe | How to make Sev Paratha | Easy Paratha Recipe [Video]

Sev Paratha recipe with step by step video instructions. Sev Paratha is a wholewheat based flatbread that is stuffed with sev, onions and spices. Sev Paratha makes for a delicious breakfast or a light evening snack. 

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Sev Paratha!! It's so yummy, you have got to try it!

Last year when the pandemic waned a little, I found myself alone for lunch one day with just a packet of thick sev in the snacks box. And I just got a lunch idea. I had seen sev paratha on TV but never really made any or eaten too. Why not? was the thought behind cooking that lonesome lunch.

The paratha was everything I had hoped for - loaded with the stuffing and spices tingling in my mouth.

What is Sev?

If you have never had sev, you should head over to the nearest supermarket or Indian store and pick up a packet. It tastes amazing sprinkled on top of literally anything. 

Sev is a deep fried Indian snack made from gram flour (besan) or chickpea flour. It looks like fine yellow vermicelli. Sev has many sizes, from the finest nylon sev to the thick sev. 

For the sev paratha, I recommend the slightly thicker sev so they hold their shape and don't dissolve away. You can use aloo bhujia too or any flavored sev like garlic or palak.

More details...

The stuffing for sev paratha is very very easy to make. It is made of just 5 ingredients - sev , obviously, finely chopped onions (skip for a Jain version), coriander leaves, chaat masala and red chilli powder. I did not add any salt as the sev already is salty and the chaat masala has salt too. Just mix and you are ready to stuff. Make the stuffing just before you are ready to roll out the parathas to prevent it from getting soggy.

The dough is your regular roti/chapati dough made from atta (wholewheat flour), water and salt. 

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter, and don't forget to tag your photo @oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are up to.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

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Sev Paratha Recipe | How to make Sev Paratha

Sev Paratha is a stuffed wholewheat faltbread. The paratha is stuffed with a a mixture of fried gram flour vermicelli called sev, onions and spices. The vegan flatbread is pan fried. It makes for a delicious breakfast.

Recipe Type:  Breakfast
Cuisine:            Indian
Prep Time:     45 minutes
Cook time:     15 minutes
Total time:     60 minutes
Yield:                3 Parathas

Ingredients:

1 cup Thick Sev
1 Onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp Coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp Chaat Masala
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1.5 cup Wholewheat Flour
0.5 tsp Salt
1 cup Water
Oil for roasting the parathas
Dry flour for dusting

Method:

1. Knead a soft dough with the whole wheat flour, salt and water. Add water as required. Cover and rest for 20 minutes.
2. In a smaller bowl, mix together the sev, onion, coriander leaves, chaat masala and red chilli powder. Add salt if required, I did not as the sev and chaat masala, both contain salt.
3. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions and roll them out into small disks. Use dry flour for dusting as required to prevent the dough from sticking to the surface.
4. Spoon the stuffing equally onto each of the dough disks and seal the edges of the dough.
5. Dust the counter with dry flour and roll out the parathas to around 6 inches in diameter or as thin as you can.
6. Heat a frying pan or a tava and grease it. Place the paratha on the tava and spoon oil over it and around it. Once the first side is slightly brown, flip the paratha and continue to cook. Cook until both sides are browned and the paratha is cooked. Serve hot.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Pyaz Besan Paratha

Beetroot paratha

Schezwan Paratha

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Dal Chat Recipe | How to make Dal Chaat | Moradabadi Dal Chat Recipe [Video]

Dal Chaat or Moong Dal Chat is a tasty and nutritious breakfast or snack that is made by topping cooked moong dal (lentils) with fresh vegetables and chutneys. Dal Chaat can be made to suit a vegan and Jain diet.

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Dal chaat is a homely, hearty, healthy, and delicious dish that is super easy to make. It can be as simple as you like or as fancy as you like. It is made from cooked moong dal and is topped with a variety of fresh vegetables, fruits, and chutneys. It is a mix of textures and flavors. Best of all, it is probably one of the healthiest chats out there. It is also very easy to veganize this recipe.  

What is Dal Chaat?

Chaat is simply a finger licking snack and Dal is cooked lentils, in this case, moong dal or mung bean lentils.

Dal chaat has its origin in Moradabad, a town in Western Uttar Pradesh. It is popularly available sold there on the streets all day long. People have it as a breakfast or a filling meal throughout the day.

How is Dal Chaat made?

To make dal chaat, you first need to cook the dal. Wash and soak the yellow moong dal for 20-30 minutes. Don't use the "chilka wala moong dal" or the moong dal with skin for this recipe as it will not be as creamy as it is supposed to be. Cook the moong dal until it is completely cooked and mushy. You can either pressure cook it or cook it on a pot on the stovetop. 

While the dal cooks, prep all the other ingredients - chop the onions, tomatoes, coriander leaves and ginger. Deseed the pomegranate. And lastly, cube the butter. 

You can buy the green chutney, tamarind chutney and papdi or you can make your own. I will leave the links for the chutneys in the recipe below.

Vegan and Jain option

To veganize the dal chaat, skip the butter or use vegan butter or just a few spoonfuls of your favorite extra virgin oil.

To make a Jain friendly dal chaat, skip the onions and ginger. You can instead top it with finely chopped cucumber for additional texture. Also, make sure that the green and tamarind chutney are free of ginger and garlic.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo @oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are up to.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

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Dal Chaat Recipe | Moradabadi Dal Chat | How to make Moong Dal Chat

Dal Chaat or Moong Dal Chat is a tasty and nutritious breakfast or snack that is made by topping cooked moong dal (lentils) with fresh vegetables and chutneys. Dal Chaat can be made to suit a vegan and Jain diet.

Recipe Type:  Breakfast, Snacks
Cuisine:            North Indian
Prep Time:     30 minutes
Cook time:     30 minutes
Total time:     60 minutes
Yield:                Serves 2-3

Author:                Anupama

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked Moong Dal
50gms of Butter, cubed or 4-6 tsp Oil
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 Tomato, finely chopped
3-4 Tbsp Pomegranate seeds
2-3 Tbsp Coriander leaves, chopped
1" Ginger, chopped into matchsticks
8-10 Papdi or any Crackers
0.5 cup Coriander Mint Chutney (green chutney)
0.5 cup sweet and sour Tamarind chutney
Black salt as per taste
Salt to taste
Cumin powder to taste
Chat masala to taste
Lime juice or lemon juice

Method:

1. Wash the moong dal twice and soak the dal and keep aside for 20-30 mins.
2. After 30 minutes, pressure cook the dal with 2 cups of water or in a pot on the stovetop until the dal is completely cooked and soft.
3. Prep all the other ingredients while the dal cooks.
4. Once the dal is cooked, lightly mash the dal with the back of a spoon.
5. To assemble the dal chat, add a few cubes of butter to the plate and spoon over warm dal. If making a vegan version, you can replace the butter with vegan butter or replace with your favorite extra virgin oil.
6. Sprinkle black salt, cumin powder, chat masala and regular salt (optional).
7. Add some more butter or oil.
8. Spoon over the green chutney and the tamarind chutney.
9. Top with chopped onion, tomato, coriander leaves and pomegranate seeds.
10. Lightly crush a few papdi or crispy crackers and add to the chat.
11. Squeeze some lime juice and serve warm-hot.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Moonglet

Masala Puri

Crispy Moong Dal

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Bangarpet Pani Puri Recipe | Bangarpet Chats Recipe | How to make clear pani puri [Video]

Bangarpet Pani Puri Recipe with step by step video instructions. Bangarpet is a small town on the outskirts of Bangalore that is famous for its spicy pani puri which is transparent or clear. Bangarpet Pani Puri is a pani puri stuffed with boiled green peas and filled with a clear spicy and sour pani.

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To be honest, we are nuts over Pani Puri in this house. We can eat it for lunch / dinner and wipe off a hundred in one sitting together. And we are hard core, no meetha pani (sweet water) people. 

My love for Pani Puri probably comes from my dad. Seeing him eat puri upon puri obviously tempted me to try some and I was hooked. Imagine marrying a guy who loves Pani Puri even more than I do. As I said, nuts!

Before moving to Bangalore, I only knew of one Pani Puri, the regular pudina pani one. You can check out that recipe here. It's a classic and definitely the ultimate favorite.

But in Bangalore, I saw several "Bangarpet Chat" shops that seemed to serve a different variety. 

What is Bangarpet Pani Puri?

Bangarpet is a town on the outskirts of Bangalore that is famous for it's unique pani puri. The Pani, unlike all others, is clear or transparent and is very very hot / spicy. It almost tricks you into thinking it is plain water and then the spice hits you right up your nose. It is an experience you must have if you ever spot a Bangarpet Chat shop. 

I attempted this several times and have now almost settled on a recipe that tastes similar to the one sold near our house, but with heat levels that we can tolerate without having a heartburn. 

The shop near my house does a Sunday special, something you can attempt once you have the base recipe mastered. They add fruit squashes and vegetable soups to the pani and have flavored panis like grape, pineapple and tomato. Definitely worth a try, but the original is the best, as always.

How is the Pani clear / transparent?

This is really the question isn't it? The simple answer is citric acid and seeping rather than grinding.

Also, sometimes, alum.

I avoid ingredients I have no idea about, so alum was out in my case. It left my pani with a very slight beige tinge, that I could live with. When served in individual quantities, that tinge isn't visible, so all's well here.

The making of the pani begins by lightly pounding ginger, garlic, cinnamon, clove and green chillies and letting them seep for a few hours or overnight in hot water. You can also tie this in a muslin cloth pouch for a better color, or rather, less color. Citric acid crystals are added for acidity instead of lemon juice or tamarind. This ensures the water is clear. 

I added chopped coriander too, you can skip it, it doesn't alter the taste too much. 

The water is sieved and the solids are kept aside. Adjust the salt and/or sourness and your Bangarpet Pani is ready.

The solids that we had seeped are ground and used to make the green peas stuffing for the puris. You can also use it in any curry.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo @oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are up to.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

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Bangarpet Pani Puri Recipe | Bangarpet Chats Recipe | How to make clear pani puri

Bangarpet Pani Puri is a famous pani puri from the small town of Bangarpet near Bangalore. The pani is super spicy and clear and the puris are stuffed with green peas.

Recipe Type:  Snacks
Cuisine:            Karnataka
Prep Time:     8 hours
Cook time:     30 minutes
Total time:     8 hours 30 minutes
Yield:                Makes 100 Pani Puris

Author:              Anupama

Ingredients:

For the clear Pani:

2 Cloves
1" Cinnamon
2-3 Green Chillies
2 Tbsp Ginger, chopped
10-12 Garlic cloves
1 tsp Citric Acid crystals
0.5 tsp Black Salt
1 litre hot Water
Salt to taste

For the green peas filling:

1 cup dried Green peas
Salt to taste

To assemble the Pani Puri:

100 Puris
1 large Carrot, grated
1 large Onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp Coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 cup Sev (Optional)

Method:

1. Wash and soak the dried green peas in water overnight.
2. Coarsely pound the ginger, garlic and green chillies together.
3. Take 1 litre of hot water in a steel tumbler and add the pounded mixture, black salt and citric acid crystals.
4. Keep the water aside for 2 hours at room temperature or in the fridge overnight, allowing the flavors to seep into the water.
5. Next morning, pressure cook the soaked green peas with 1 tsp of salt.
6. Sieve the pani and keep the ginger-garlic-green chilli mixture aside to use later.
7. Add salt to the pani as per taste. If you want the pani to be sourer, add more citric acid crystals.
8. Blend the ginger-garlic-green chillies into a smooth paste.
9. Heat a pan and add a few spoonfuls of the blended paste and then add the boiled green peas along with 1 cup water used for boiling it and salt.
10. Mash lightly and cook until the water evaporates. Allow to cool to room temperature.
11. Mix together the grated carrot, chopped onions and coriander leaves before assembling.
12. To assemble the pani puri, lightly poke a hole in the puri and stuff it with the green peas, carrot-onion mix, sev and fill with pani just before eating.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Pani Puri

Tomato Puri

Masala Puri

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Instant Milk Peda Recipe | Milk Peda Recipe with Condensed Milk | Quick doodh peda recipe [Video]

Instant Milk Peda Recipe | Milk Peda Recipe with Condensed Milk | Quick doodh peda recipe with step by step video instructions. Instant Milk Peda or Doodh Peda is made by combining sweetened condensed milk like mithai mate or milkmaid and milk powder and cooking them on low heat to make instant khova. Pedas are flavored with cardamom, shaped and topped with nuts. Instant milk peda is perfect for festivals like diwali or when you want a quick dessert. This recipe is gluten free and suits a Jain diet.

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Milk Pedas are one of the easiest of Indian sweets, especially with THIS recipe.

You know that time, when you had a nice spicy dinner, and then get this sudden sweet craving, but it's already late and you are so cozily dressed up in your pajamas. And you are torn between changing and driving to the nearest sweet mart or trying to suppress that craving. You don't need to anymore, not with this recipe. 

The scene I just described above, is something I experience almost every couple of weeks. And most of the times laziness wins, I hate changing and going out after 10pm. So I mostly settle for maybe a biscuit or when I am in a good healthy-diet sort of mind, a couple of dates or raisins. But mostly, I'm still thinking of delicious desserts in my head. 

So when you aren't freezing brownies for such nights, give this peda recipe a try and I assure you it won't disappoint. In fact, it is so easy, a 12-year-old can make it, so feel free to delegate this to the little chefs at home. My sister actually won a cooking contest in school making this on an old kerosene stove, so you can guess how simple and tasty it really is. 

Instant Milk Peda is made from just a handful of ingredients - ghee, condensed milk, milk powder, cardamom powder and nuts.

Notes to make the perfect Pedas

Not that you need too many pointers, but I did somehow manage to mess up this recipe once, so I thought I'd rather share the experience.

• When I say 5-6 minutes of cooking, I mean it. Unfortunately, the first time I made the pedas, I went by look and feel rather than timing. I ended up with very chewy pedas, almost like a 5-star or caramel candy if you know. Not a pleasant experience for my jaws. So although the mixture looks runny and sticky after 6 minutes, don't cook it too long. At the maximum, based on the heat, you may need 1-2 minutes more. The pedas will harden and set as they cool, so don't worry.
• What if my advice above failed and you actually undercooked it. Don't worry, put the mix back on the stove and maybe cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
• What if you totally missed my advice and overcooked it. Well, at least now you know how strong your jaws are. But don't worry, I actually managed to get this working too. Keep the pedas in the fridge overnight. In the morning, remove them and keep them on the counter and allow them to come to room temperature. Somehow this magically fixed the texture in my case. So it is worth a try, don't you agree?

Also, you can top the pedas with any nuts or no nuts at all. I like almonds and pista, so that is what I used.

Flavoring too is your choice. The traditional flavoring for most Indian sweets is cardamom and I stuck with it. You can use saffron, rose, or kewra too. I've tried the rose and it rocks.

Oh and also, since I'm posting this so close to Diwali, have a happy and safe one. 

I have a Diwali playlist on YouTube, that may interest you too, check it out here.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo @oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are up to.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

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Instant Milk Peda Recipe | Quick Doodh Peda | Milk Peda with Condensed Milk

Instant Milk Peda or Doodh Peda an Indian fudge type of dessert / sweet that is made by combining sweetened condensed milk like mithai mate or milkmaid and milk powder and cooking them on low heat. Pedas are flavored with cardamom, shaped and topped with nuts. Instant milk peda is perfect for festivals like diwali or when you want a quick dessert. This recipe is gluten free and suits a Jain diet.

Recipe Type:  Dessert
Cuisine:            Indian
Prep Time:     10 hours
Cook time:     10 minutes
Total time:     20 minutes
Yield:                25

Author:                Anupama

Ingredients:

400gms Sweetened Condensed Milk
1.5 cup Milk Powder or Dairy Whitener
8-10 Green Cardamom
1 Tbsp Ghee
3 Tbsp chopped nuts like Almonds and Pistachios

Method:

1. Peel the cardamom and crush the seeds into a powder. Add 1 tsp sugar to help you pound it into a powder.
2. In a non stick pan, add the ghee, condensed milk and the milk powder.
3. Mix well.
4. Cook the mixture on low heat while stirring constantly to prevent the mix from burning.
5. Continue to cook for 5-6 minutes or until the mix comes together as one mass.
6. Add cardamom powder and mix well.
7. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl or a plate. The mix will look sticky, but don’t be tempted to cook it more. The pedas will become chewy if overcooked.
8. As the mix cools, it will begin to harden and set.
9. Grease your hands with ghee and take a spoonful of the mix while still warm and shape into pedas.
10. Top with chopped nuts and gently press so that they stick to the peda.
11. Cool completely before serving.
12. Pedas can be stored at room temperature for 1-2 days, after which they are best stored in the fridge. Do not store them for over 5-7 days.

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Kaju Katli

Coconut Laddoo

Holige | Puran Poli

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