Pipa (pronounced as pee-par) or chinese lute is a Chinese wooden musical instrument. This is a Cantonese dish derives its name from the resemblance of tofu puffs.
It is a fantastic vegetarian chinese tofu dish.  I wanted to try some vegetarian recipes in Chinese cuisine since my husband loves chinese food so I borrowed a Chinese cookbook from the library it is called Every Grain of Rice by Fushsia Dunlop. I recently tried this vegetarian pipa tofu recipe with little changes in ingredients, to my surprise it came out good and tastes awesome.
The fried tofu was crispy on outside, but once you put them into a sauce, they turn soft and tastes yummy. Try this pipa tofu recipe at home, you will love it.

Vegetarian pipa tofu recipe

Vegetarian Pipa Tofu Recipe / Pi Pa Dou Fu

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Pipa Tofu is a Chinese vegetarian tofu recipe, it tastes great with white rice.

Author: Gayathri Ramanan

Recipe type: lunch

Cuisine: chinese

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• FOR THE TOFU PUFFS
• 1 Mushroom (Baby Bella) or any kind
• 170 gms of Plain White Tofu,
• ½ Carrot, grated
• 1 Tsp of Garlic Powder
• ½ Tsp of Red Chilly Flakes
• 1 Tbsp of Corn Starch
• 1 Tbsp of Rice Flour or potato flour
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• FOR THE SAUCE
• 2 Baby Bella Mushroom, Sliced
• 1 Tsp of Ginger, Finely Chopped
• ½ Carrot, Sliced
• ½ Green Capsicum, Sliced
• Few Broccoli Florets
• 1 Red Chilly
• 1 Tbsp of Tamari Soy Sauce
• ½ Tsp of Dark Soy Sauce
• 1 Tsp of Rice Flour or Corn Flour mixed with 2 tbsp of water
• 1 tsp of Sesame Oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Chop the mushroom and slice the other two mushroom. Grate the carrot.
2. Add tofu to a food processor. Transfer it to a bowl, add mushroom, carrot, salt, pepper
3. garlic powder, red chilly flakes, rice flour, corn starch. Mix everything well.
4. Heat a pan with oil, just scooped the tofu mixture up with a spoon and slide into a hot oil, leave it for couple minutes, cook both sides until golden.
5. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and drain it on a paper towel.
6. Heat a pan with oil, add ginger, red chilli, fry it for a sec.
7. Add carrot, capsicum, broccoli and mushroom. Add salt and pepper, stir fry it until it turns soft.
8. Add some water, bring it to a boil.
9. Add dark soy sauce, tamari soy sauce, stir it well .
10. Add the puffs and simmer it for a minute.
11. Add rice flour mixture, give a quick stir, it will thicken in few minutes.
12. Add chopped spring onion if you wish, stir it and turn it off. Mix some sesame oil and serve with white rice

Notes

If you don’t, have rice flour use a different thickening agent like potato flour or corn flour.
The recipe calls for dried shitake mushroom, but I used fresh baby bella mushroom.
You can use any vegetables of your choice.

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Lemon couscous recipe Indian style is a simple, fast to cook and refreshing dish flavored with lemon, nuts and spices. If you are unfamiliar with couscous, its basically a fine semolina. This couscous is a staple food in north African cuisines like morocco. You can find this in grocery stores like walmart. With couscous, we can make lot of recipes like salads with fruits, dry fruits or veggies. I already posted Five spice Moroccon couscous salad with raisins in my blog.

This easy lemon couscous recipe goes well with chutney or pickle. Perfect for breakfast or dinner.

Lemon couscous recipe Indian style

Lemony Couscous Recipe Indian Style

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

20 mins

 

Lemon couscous recipe Indian style is a simple, light breakfast and it is easy to cook. It goes well with chutney or pickle. Perfect for breakfast or dinner.

Author: Gayathri Ramanan

Recipe type: Breakfast

Cuisine: Indian

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• ⅔ cup of couscous (Instant)
• ⅔ cup of water
• ¼ tsp of salt
• ¼ tsp of ghee
• Other ingredients
• 2 tsp of oil
• 1 tsp of bengal gram
• 1 tsp of mustard seeds
• 1 tsp of urad dal
• Few curry leaves
• 2 Tbsp of cashews
• 2 tbsp of peanuuts
• 1 red chilly
• 1 slited green chilly
• 2 tsp of ginger pieces
• ½ tsp of turmeric powder
• ½ tsp of ghee
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp of green peas (frozen)
• Coriander leaves to garnish
• 1 tbsp of lemon juice

Instructions

1. Heat a pan, add water and salt. Bring water to a rolling boil, add couscous to it, mix well. Cover it and turn it off. Leave it aside for 10 mins.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add bengal gram, mustard seeds, urad dal, red chilly and curry leaves, after it pops up, add cashews, peanuts, green chilly and ginger, saute this for a min.
3. Add carrot pieces, green peas and salt, fry this for a min. Sprinkle some water, cover and cook it for 5 mins and turn it off.
4. Fluff couscous with a fork and add to it. Add lemon juice and mix well.
5. Finally add ghee and mix again.
6. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with chutney of your choice or pickle.

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This easy eggless pancakes recipe are soft, spongy and fluffy can be made in less than 30 minutes. This homemade eggless pancakes are fast to make and it tasted delicious than store bought mix. You can add blueberries or any fruits to the batter before cooking. I already posted blueberry pancakes without eggs and eggless whole wheat zucchini pancakes in my blog. But this is a plain easy pancake recipe without eggs and with simple ingredients available at home. I love to eat weekend breakfast pancakes with maple syrup alone. Serve this pancakes with a dollop of butter on top and drizzle it with maple syrup.

Easy Eggless Pancakes Recipe 

Easy Eggless Pancakes Recipe / How to make pancakes

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Easy eggless pancakes recipe are soft, spongy and fluffy weekend breakfast dish can be made in less than 30 minutes. Kids will enjoy this homemade pancakes for sure.

Author: Gayathri Ramanan

Recipe type: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Serves: 7

Ingredients

• ½ cup of whole wheat flour
• ¾ cup of all-purpose flour (maida)
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup of milk
• 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 3-4 Tablespoons of water or as needed

Instructions

1. Mix together both the flours, baking powder, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl.
2. Mix wet ingredients milk, oil and water in another bowl. Add it to the dry ingredients bowl. Stir well, make sure there are no lumps.
3. Heat a griddle (tawa), lightly wipe it with oil.
4. Pour about ¼ cup of batter onto the hot griddle.
5. Pancakes are ready to turn when tops are bubbly on top and the edges begin to appear dry. Take a broad spatula and turn the pancake to other side.
6. Transfer this to a serving plate. Serve it with butter and maple syrup.
7. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.

Notes

Use iron griddle (dosa pan) to get nice golden pancakes.
You can also make pancakes using whole wheat flour alone but it requires more water and milk.
You can add vanilla essence or berries to the batter to make it more flavorful.
For vegan version, use almond milk.

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