Ghee - easy and homemade

Ingredients:

Unsalted Butter - 2 sticks

Direction:

1. Take a thick bottom pan
2. Add unsalted butter stick
3. Turn on the burner to medium flame and let it boil for 5-7 minutes
4. As soon as it starts turning golden brown, remove pan from flame and let it settle down
5. Transfer ghee into storage jar.

Note: You can make Ghee rice with the residue. See ghee rice recipe for more details

Khichdi - healthy meal

Ingredients:

• Rice - 1/4 cup
• Moong daal - 1/8 cup
• Green chili - 1
• Onion - 1/4 cup
• Eggplant - 1/4 cup
• Tomato - 1 small
• Carrot - 1/8 cup
• Cauliflower - 1/4 cup
• Bean - 1/8 cup
• Peas - 1/8 cup
• Potato - 1

Spices:

• Black mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Bay leaf - 2
• Turmeric powder - a pinch
• Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - 1/2 tsp (adjust as per taste)
• Garam Masala powder - a pinch

Directions:

1. Add 2 tsp oil in a cooker.
2. Once oil gets warm add all black mustard, cumin seeds, bay leaf and green chili
3. As soon as spices start to splutter add all vegetables
4. Add turmeric powder, cumin powder and salt 
5. Now add rice and moong daal
6. Stir it for 5-6 mins and add garam masala
7. Add 2 cup water and pressure cook for  3-4 whistles (or 10-15 mins)
8. Once done, add 1/2 tsp ghee and serve hot with papad, mango pickle and yougurt

Note:

• Add vegetables as per your taste, Generally, I add all vegetables from above list
• While serving make sure its not dry, if so just add some water and stir well

portable Heater - save energy and $$$

Hello Friends!


With the beginning of Fall, its time to look around for options to keep your apartment/house warm without spending much. Trust me relying on inbuilt room heaters for winters is not the most efficient and economical way!

Story: Last year during winter, I got electricity bill as $250 for two months which was pretty high from usual. Generally, bills are in the range $30- $50 in Seattle. Soon I figured out that the inbuilt room heaters are not energy efficient and they consume lot of electricity. So I started my research for alternate heating options.

During this process, I came across couple of portable heaters and finally settled on "Lasko full circle ceramic heater". This heater is very energy efficient and warms your room in minutes. It comes with a remote which is cool! Now, my electricity bill is in the range $50-$70 during winters for two months. I definitely recommend this to all my friends - buy today, save energy and some dollars :-)

Recommendation: Lasko 6462 Full Circle Ceramic Heater with Remote

Buying Option: I got mine from Amazon

Stay Warm!
Ani