MICKEY’S FAVOURITE SOUP

RED PUMPKIN, BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND CARROT SOUP

 Ingredients

½ cup 1-inch pumpkin pieces, peeled

½ cup 1-inch butternut squash pieces, peeled

½ cup 1-inch carrots pieces, peeled

1 onion, roughly chopped

 1 teaspoon roughly chopped ginger

1 teaspoon roughly chopped garlic

Olive oil, as required

1 litre vegetable stock

Salt and pepper to taste

Lemon to taste

 Parsley for garnish

Roasted crushed garlic powder for garnish

Method

• In a heavy bottom pan, sauté onion, ginger and garlic in olive oil till translucent.

 • Add chopped vegetables and toss. Add vegetable stock or plain water and bring to boil.

 • Once the stock comes to a boil, lower heat and let it simmer. Once vegetables are cooked, remove the utensil from heat and transfer the contents to a blender.

• Blend the vegetables along with the stock and strain the soup.

• Add salt, pepper and lemon to taste.

• Garnish with parsley and roasted crushed garlic powder. Serves 4

MICKEY’S FAVOURITE STARTER

NACHNI PANCAKES WITH DRY COCONUT CHUTNEY

Ingredients

½ cup red millet (nachni/ragi) flour

 1 tablespoon semolina (rava)

1 tablespoon Bengal gram flour (besan)

 ¼ cup finely chopped onions

2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander (dhania)

1½ teaspoons finely chopped green chillies

Salt to taste

2½ teaspoons olive oil for greasing and cooking

Dry coconut chutney, to serve

Method

• Combine all the ingredients, except the salt and oil, along with 1 cup of water in a deep bowl and mix well.

• Just before making the pancakes, add salt and 2 teaspoons of water to the batter.

• Once the bubbles form, mix the batter gently.

• Grease a non-stick pan with ½ a teaspoon of oil.

• Pour 2 tablespoons of batter at a time and spread it lightly.

• Cook, using 1 teaspoon of oil, till they turn brown on both sides.

 • Serve with dry coconut chutney.

Makes 6 pancakes

MICKEY’S ALL-TIME FAVOURITE

MULTIGRAIN KHICHDI

Ingredients

1/3 cup wild rice

1/3 cup sorghum (jowar)

1/3 cup pearl millet (bajra)

1 cup split green gram (moong dal)

 1/3 cup split black gram (urad dal)

1 onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

 1–2 chillies

6 curry leaves, torn into halves

50 grams finely chopped broccoli

50 grams French beans, chopped

1 small green capsicum, finely chopped

 50 grams snow peas, chopped

50 grams Brussels sprouts, halved

1 teaspoon ghee

Seasoning

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon split black gram

 1 teaspoon ghee

Method

• Soak rice and other grains in water for about 3-6 hours.

• For the seasoning, sauté the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and split black gram in 1 teaspoon of ghee.

• Add onions, ginger, chillies and curry leaves and sauté for an additional 3 minutes.

• Drain the soaked rice and other grains and add to onion mixture. Add 4 cups of water and bring to a boil.

 • Add vegetables and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. Do not overcook the vegetables.

• Add 1 cup of water to cooked vegetables and continue cooking in a thick-bottomed utensil, until all the water has been absorbed.

 Add a teaspoon of ghee and mix thoroughly before serving. Serves 4

Excerpted with permission from ‘Lose Weight, Gain Shape’ by Mickey Mehta, published by Westland.