A trip to India is always fabulous -meeting family and friends, enjoying the comforts of putting up your feet and letting mom cook for you, eating out or at home and in all - a break from your hectic everyday schedule. Well, thats what i had been doing for the past month and a half in addition to attending my sister's wedding. I had promised earlier to post from India, but little did i know that with a wedding in the family and lack of good connectivity from home, posting would be almost minimal. This year hopefully i should be able to post more often, given that i am finished with my course work and am into my hospital rotations currently. Here are some really spicy indo-chinese recipes that you can make in a jiffy.

Vegetable Lemon Coriander soup

Serves 3

600 ml (1-1/2 can) vegetable broth
3 tbsp finely chopped coriander
1/2 piece fresh lime
1/2 cup finely chopped veggies (cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, baby corn, mushroom)
salt to taste
pepper to taste

This ones from the Taj cookbook that i have. A refreshing soup that goes well with any Chinese meal and without one too.

1. Boil the vegetable broth and add the veggies, salt and pepper.
2. When the veggies are cooked well but not too mushy, add the coriander and boil for another 2-3 minutes.
3. Remove from flame and add the lime juice. Serve hot after adjusting for seasoning.

Vegetables with water chestnuts and tofu in schezuan sauce

As the title suggests, i did start out to make the veggies in schezuan sauce but it didnt turn out to my liking and hence i made a couple of adjustments- so the sauce is not exactly schezuan. The recipe ultimately turned out well but i would have loved to fry the tofu before i added it to enhance its taste and make it more compatible with the crunchy water chestnuts. You can serve it with plain white rice or vegetable fried rice. You can also add veggies of your choice like broccoli and mushrooms and substitute the ones in the recipe.

Serves 6

1 can vegetable baby corn (available at whole foods)
1/2 cup whole sugar snap peas
1/3 cup diced carrots
2 small cans sliced water chestnuts (available at whole foods)
1 lb tofu
1/2 can vegetable broth
2 tbsp hot red chili paste
2 tbsp chopped garlic
2 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
4 tbsp chopped green onion
salt to taste

1. Heat oil on a high flame. when its really hot add the ginger-garlic and some chopped green chilies as per your liking.
2. Next add the green onion and saute for 2 minutes.
3. Add all the veggies and the vegetable broth, salt and cook till the veggies are well cooked and tender yet firm (add more vegetable broth if needed).
4. Now add the hot red chili paste, soy sauce and vinegar and cook till the the sauce seeps into the veggies.
5. Next add the tofu (fried preferably) and cook for 5-10 minutes.
6. Garnish with green onion and serve with rice.

Cream Fruit Salad

Serves 2

1/2 can (14 oz) whipping cream
1 cup vanilla icecream
sugar to taste
fruits of your choice (banana, apple, mango, strawberry, pineapple, grapes)
1-2 drops vanilla essence

1. Put the whipping cream and vanilla icecream through a blender.
2. Dissolve the sugar, add the fruits (shouldnt be sour)and the vanilla essence and enjoy a simple yet awesome dessert.