Ingredients:
French Beans- 100 gms
Carrot- 100 gms
Shelled peas-75 gms
Potato- 200 gms
Apples- 2
Pineapple-2 slices
Lettuce leaves-3 or 4
Fresh cream- 100 gms
Mayonnaise- 2 tbsp
salt, white pepper, sugar to taste

Method:

Peel and chop carrots and potatos. Chop beans into half inch lengths. Boil all the vegetables and keep aside. Peel and chop apples into cubes. Chop pineapple slices. Mix the cream, mayonnaise, salt, pepper and sugar well. Add the boiled vegetables and fruits. Mix well. Arrange the lettuce leaves in a dish and transfer the salad onto the leaves. Alternatively, serve the salad with tomato slices on the side. If desired, you can add boiled cauliflower florets also.

Ingredients:

Cooked pasta- 100 gms
Capsicum- Red, yellow and green- one each
Carrot- 1 medium- cut into juliennes
Tomatoes- 3 medium- dice or cut into strips
Spring onions- 5 nos- cut into long pieces
Cucumber- Peel and cut into strips
Lettuce- a few leaves- chopped

For dressing:

Peanuts- 4 tbsp- Dry roast and coarsely crush
Garlic- 1 clove- chopped fine
Sesame seeds- 2 tbsps- lightly roasted
Coriander leaves- 2 tbsp- Remove all stalk and chop
Lemon Juice- 2 tsps
White pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
Olive oil- 1 tbsp
Sugar- 2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

Mix well all the salad ingredients in a bowl. Prepare the dressing and mix with the vegetables. Toss lightly and serve.

For pastry:

Plain flour- 240 ml
Butter or ghee- 2 tbsp
Salt to taste.
Water- 2-3 tbsp

Sift the salt and flour into a bowl. Rub in the ghee until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add water little by little and knead well to a very smooth dough. Cover and chill while preparing the filling.

For stuffing:

Potatoes- 2 medium
Carrot- 1 medium
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
Chopped Coriander leaves- 1 tbsp
Oil- 1 tbsp
salt

Grate the potatoes and carrot. Heat oil, saute the grated vegetables for a few minutes; then add all the powders and coriander leaves and mix well.

Divide the dough into 15 portions. Dust with flour and roll into small rounds of about 5 inches. Cut the round into half and with one half make a cone. Fill with stuffing and seal the opening firmly by dampening. DO NOT OVERFILL. Prepare all the samosas the same way. Deep fry until crisp and golden. Serve with tomato ketchup or date chutney.

Ingredients:

Semolina- 160 ml
Oil- 2-3 tbsp
Mixed cubed vegetables- 160 ml (Beans, Carrot, potato, peas)
Chopped onion- 160 ml
Hot water- 320 ml
Mustard- 1/2 tsp
Black gram- 2 tsp
Bengal gram- 1 tsp
Cashew nut- broken – 1 tbsp
Curry leaves- 10-12
Green chillies- 2- chop
Ginger- grated- 1tsp
Asafoetida- 2 pinches
Turmeric powder- a pinch
Ghee- 1 tbsp (optional- reduce oil)
Salt- 1 tsp
Sugar- 1 tsp

For garnish:
Coriander leaves chopped- 1tbsp
Grated coconut- 1 tbsp

Method:

Boil or microwave the mixed vegetables till just soft and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard, black gram, bengal gram, cashew nut and allow to splutter/ brown. Add curry leaves, green chillies, ginger, asafoetida and saute for a minute. Add chopped onion and saute further. When onion turns translucent, add the semolina and roast on low heat for two minutes. Add the mixed vegetables, turmeric powder, salt and sugar and mix. Add the hot water, reserving a little. Mix well and close the pan. Cook on low heat until all the water is absorbed. Add the remaining water if needed. If semolina is not so fine, more water may be required. Finally add shredded coconut, coriander leaves and ghee (optional) and cover. Switch off the stove. Mix well after 5 minutes.

Ingredients:
Baby potatoes, Small Brinjals and Baby onions- 500 gms in all
Coriander leaves- 1 big bunch- Remove any stalk and Chop leaves
Grated dry coconut- 4 tablespoons
Roasted Peanuts coarsely powdered- 4 tablespoons
Haldi powder- .5 teaspoon
Sugar- 1 teaspoon
Garam masala- 1 teaspoon
Oil- 3 tablespoons
Salt to taste

Method:

Slit the vegetables twice such that the pieces do not fully separate and are attached at one end and soak in salted water for 15 minutes. Mix half the oil and the rest of the ingredients into a mixture for stuffing. Stuff the vegetables with this, reserving some mixture to sprinkle on top. Heat the balance oil in a kadai and add the stuffed vegetables. Cover the kadai with a plate and pour some water on the plate. This will ensure that the vegetables stay moist. Cook over slow heat. Remove lid and gently turn the vegetables a few times. When the vegetables are done, add a dash of lemon juice to the balance masala mixture and add to the contents. Remove and serve.

Ingredients:
Boiled Rice- 1/2 cup
Urad dal- 1/2 cup
Salt- 1 tsp
Pepper corns- 10-12
Cumin seed- 1tsp
Hing- 2 pinches
Ginger powder- 2 pinches
curry leaves- 2 sprigs
Curd- 2 tbsp
cooking soda- 1/4 tsp
Oil- 3 tbsp
ghee- 2 tbsp

Method:

Wash Rice and dal together and soak for 4 hours. Grind to a coarse consistency- like rawa. Powder pepper/ jeera coarsely and add to batter as also ginger powder, hing, curry leaves. Also add cooking soda, curd, oil, ghee and keep for 3-4 hours.

Grease the bottom and sides of a flat pan which you can keep inside the pressure cooker. Pour the batter in this and steam in the cooker. DO NOT PUT THE WEIGHT OF THE PRESSURE COOKER. Steam for 20 minutes. (Keep enough water in the cooker since the steaming duration is long).

Check if cooked by inserting a needle or knife which should come clean. Cool for some time and turn over to a plate and cut into pieces.

Ingredients:
250 gms de-seeded dates
100 gms shelled walnuts
100 gms unsalted butter
100 gms powdered sugar
250 gms flour (maida)
1 egg
150 ml water
2 tsp baking powder

Method:

Chop walnuts coarsely. Chop the dates into small chunks. Add boiling water and a pinch of baking powder to the dates, mix well and set aside.

Sieve together the flour and the remaining baking powder. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in the egg. Fold in the flour and the then the nuts and then the dates. Add a teaspoon or more of milk if needed. Put the mixture in a pre-greased loaf bin and bake at 360 F for 50 minutes. Check if done by inserting a needle in the center. If needle is coated keep for 5-10 minutes more. Remove from oven, cool, wrap in foil and keep. Cut after 24 hours and serve alone or with a bit of butter.

Idiyappam:

Wash and soak 2 cups of parboiled rice for 3 to 4 hours and grind fine. Add required salt. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a kadai, add a cup of water and stir in the batter and keep stirring to make a homogeneous mass. Ensure the bottom does not burn. Remove from fire. While still hot, take fistfuls of the cooked dough and make balls. Dip your hand in cold water and do it to stand the heat. Stuff the balls one by one into a murukku press with omapodi plate (fine holed one) and press into idiappam onto a greased idli plate. Steam the idiyappams for about 10 minutes in the pressure cooker without the weight. The steamed idiyappams can be removed piece by piece for serving. Repeat with remaining dough.

Vadakari:

For Vadai:

Soak 60 ml each of Toor dal and Channa dal with 2 red chillies for an hour. Drain and grind with 2 green chillies, a pinch of aniseed (saunf- optional) and required salt. The ground mixture should be coarse and NOT watery. Add one finely chopped onion and chopped curry leaves and coriander leaves and mix well. Pour the mixture into a greased plate or idli plate and steam for 10 to 15 minutes. Cool and cut into pieces.

For Gravy:

onions- 3 medium- chop fine
tomato- 5 medium- crush
ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp
grated coconut- 1 cup
cardamom-1
clove-1
turmeric powder- 1 spoon
salt
oil

Grind the coconut with cardamom and clove and extract milk.
Heat 3 spoons of oil in a pan, add ginger garlic paste and onion and saute. Add the tomato and saute further. When it is cooked and oil floats, add the coconut milk, turmeric powder, required salt and 2 cups of water. When the gravy thickens slightly, add the vada pieces and cook for some more time.