nowadays many people are calorie & diet conscious so they prefer less oily foods .In india you will find papad as a common side dish in many states right from North to south
We have many varieties of papad made from urad dal ,moong dal,sabudana ,rice ,nachni ,jowar,potato etc.
Normally these papads are deep fried in oil .So many people will try to avoid eating fried papad due to deep frying
But today I am going to tell you a method which uses zero oil for roasting papads in microwave & they taste even better than the fried ones .
You can use this method for roasting any papads.

Ingredients
Papad of any variety ( urad dal /poha /moong dal etc) i have used lijjat urad papad
Microwave
Method:
1.Place the papad's on the base of turn table (plate) side by side.take care they do not overlap each other
2.Close the oven door.Now select microwave mode & use the highest power.
3.Set the timing for seconds & press start button.After 30 seconds open door & get hot roasted papad without using a single drop of oil
4.If you feel that papad is raw from a specific side than again microwave it for 10 seconds
Rasam rice is a deadly combination with papad .Todays rasam is not only tasty but even healthy as it has beetroot as its main ingredient
A good way to make your kids eat beetroot.
While I was preparing the rasam itself, it was so flavorful and loved the aroma a lot. Beetroot rasam is one of the tastiest dishes that can be made from Beetroot. The dish is very easy to make and does not take long.
Ingredients
Medium size Beetroot 1
tomato small -1
Tamarind Small lemon/ gooseberry size
Jaggery 1/4 tsp
Rasam powder 1 tsp (OPTIONAL)
Green chilli 2
Turmeric A pinch
Salt As needed
Roast and grind
Oil 1 tsp
Red chilli 4
Coriander seeds 1 tblsp
urad dal - 1 tbsp
Jeera 1 tsp
Curry leaves 5
Coconut, grated 1 tbsp
Tadka/tempering
Oil 1 tsp
Mustard 1 tsp
Curry leaves 1 sprig
Finely smashed Garlic 2 tsp
Asafoetida/ hing 1 pinch
Method:
1.Firstly, peel and cut beetroot to small pieces.next steam tomato & beetroot either on stove top by peeling off the skin and boiling in water, or pressure cook it or microwave it.
Soak tamarind in hot water, extract juice & add about 3 cups water to it.
2.Roast the ingredients under ‘roast & grind’ Cool down and grind it first next add cooked beetroot and tomato and little water & again grind it to a paste.

3.Boil the tamarind water,along with the ground paste, rasam powder if using, salt, jaggery, turmeric, slit green chillies. Let it froth and boil for a minute.

4.In a kadai, heat oil, temper with the items given under ‘To temper’ table and add it to the rasam, mix well.
5.Serve hot with rice and papad
Bhakri (भाकरी bhākarī or Dhebra) is a round flat unleavened bread often used in the cuisine of central India.Bhakri is made from jowar (sorghum), bajra (pearl millet) ,tandul (rice) flour and ragi (red millet or finger millet)
Like breads around the world, bhakri is a staple. It is accompanied by other foods like currys and may be spread with butter. Other Indian breads include: roti, chapati, paratha, kulcha, and phulka. ...
The millets are a group of small-seeded species of cereal crops, widely grown around the world for food and fodder. They do not form a taxonomic group, but rather a functional or agronomic one, based on similar characteristics and uses.
Millet flour (called "Bajari" in Marathi) has been commonly used in Western India for hundreds of years to make the local staple flat bread (called "Bhakri"). Typically, "Bhakri" is made from "Jowar" (Sorghum) flour. today we are going to learn nachani chi bhakari
Another cereal grain popularly used in rural areas and by poor people to consume as staple in the form of roti or other forms is called ragi in Karnataka or nachani in Maharashtra, with the popularly made ragi rotti in Kannada.
These are well known as Bhakri in Maharashtra and Rotti in Karnataka. One good thing about Bhakri is that these are oil free.
In maharashtra we make a variety of bhakaris using gluten free flours. A good bhakri will be only about 2mm thick and will puff like a pita when placed on fire. It will be soft to handle.Ideally a bhakri gets combined with pitla or zunka & green mirchi thecha.
Ingredients:
Nachni/Ragi/Finger Millet Flour - 1 cup
Rice Flour/Tandlacha Peeth - 1/4 cup
Water - 1 1/2 cups
Salt
Method:
1.Take Nachni & rice flour in a vessel and make a well in the middle. Add salt and warm boiling water.
2.After the dough cools down a bit, start the kneading process.
3.Gradually add remaining water to knead it in to soft dough.
4.Divide dough in to equal balls, take one of the ball and smooth it out between palms and flatten it out.

5.Dust dry nachani flour on rolling board and Flatten the dough into a circular shape on a floured surface using palms.
6.Use rolling pin to roll out bhakari to get even consistency (this is for beginners)
7.Spread a bit of sesame seeds on the top of bhakari and give them a gentle pat as well, so that sesame seeds won't fall down while bhakari is getting roasted.(this step is optional)
8 Place the roti on a hot tava/griddle/skillet in upside down position ( the lower portion with sesame seeds of bhakri should be on griddle ) and apply water on the top side of the roti .
9. Let bhakari roast for a minute or two or until water starts to evaporate.
10 Once the water dries out, immediately flip the bhakari over and roast from other side as well for about a minute.
11 Now move the skillet away, lift the bhakari and roast it on a direct heat .
12.Serve hot with a dollop of ghee or butter on the top of it.
Todays paneer sabji is a quick and easy recipe .Paneer is something that is used on a very regular basis in Indian homes in some form or the other
It can be cooked with some basic ingredients in your kitchen like onion,tomatoes,green chilli,ginger garlic paste & few spices.
It doesnt use curd or cashewpaste or freshcream.But you can add a tbsp of curd and cashewpaste/ fresh cream if you want a hotel style taste.
But i have not added as I wanted to keep it simple.
Posting this recipe after almost 2 years was lying in my drafts.
Ingredients
Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese) – 250 grams
Tomato’s (Chopped) – 2 medium size ( you can even puree tomatoes)
Onions (Chopped) – 1 large size
Ginger Garlic Paste – 1 teaspoon
green chilli chopped
kasuri methi - pinch
Jeera powder - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder – 1 teaspoon
Garam Masala – ¼ teaspoon
Dry Coriander Powder – 2 teaspoon
shahi jeera - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil – 1-2 tablespoon
lemon juice- amchur powder - 1 tsp
Coriander – 1 tablespoon
Method:
1.Take a kadai, heat oil ,when oil is hot add shahi jeera .Once jeera crackles add chopped onions,green chilli,ginger garlic paste
2.sauté for 3 – 4 minutes on medium to low flame till light brown.
3.Add in chopped tomatoes/tomato puree and stir, let it cook for few minutes till tomatoes go soft.
4.Add in turmeric powder and stir, now add other dry masalas to it.
5.Now add in the paneer cubes,kasuri methi and mix well, let it cook on low flame for few minutes.If required sprinkle little water if you feel sabji is becoming dry
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6.Squeeze lemon juice /amchur powder mix well .Top it with chopped coriander leaves and switch off the flame and cover the kadai with lid.
7.Let the paneer rest in the masala for 5 minutes.
8.serve this with hot chapatis or parathas.
TIPS
1.Adjust red chilli powder as per your taste
2.Can even add 1 tbsp tomato ketchup to above recipe.
3.you can add a tbsp of curd and cashewpaste/ fresh cream if you want a hotel style taste.