Welcoming summer: Lunch splashed with beautiful colours

Beginning of summer not only let everyone shed those winter clothes but it also heralds the onset of those beautiful fruits and vegetables that can literally lighten up your lunch table.

This time I tried to put some effort on colours as well as food. Result a gorgeous splash of greens and reds on the lunch table!! It was healthy too so everyone was happy.

The lunch spread watermelon feta cheese salad, hara bhara kebabs ( shallow fried spinach dumplings) and water chestnut flour pakoras. So let's start cooking!!!

Hara-bhara kebabs: These are an instant hit amongst veggies looking for lip-smacking kebabs. Made with a mix of veggies ideally they are deep fried but I coated them with semolina and pan fried them. Semolina gave a nice crisp coating to the kebabs.

Ingredients: Spinach ( boiled) - 250 gms, Green peas ( boiled) - 1 cup,Green capsicum ( finely chopped) - 1 medium, Potato ( boiled and grated) - 1 medium, Broad beans ( roughly chopped) - 100 gms, Mint leaves ( finely chopped) - 1 tbsp, Coriander leaves (finely chopped) - 2 tbsp, Green chillies ( finely chopped) - 5, Ginger paste - 1 tsp, Cumin seeds - 1tsp, turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp, Corn flour - 1 tbsp, Sooji - 1/4 cup, Oil - 1 tbsp+ for shallow frying, Salt to taste.

Steps:

i. Heat the oil in a broad base pan and add the cumin seeds, ginger paste and chillies in it.

ii. Once they are sauteed for 2 minutes add the capsicum and broad beans into it.

iii. Saute them well on medium flame for 5 minutes.

iv. Now add the cooked capsicum and cook well until all the ingredients are properly cooked and softened.

v. Mix well and let the mixture cool down ; then blend it into a smooth paste.

vi. Take it out in a mixing bowl and add grated potato, chopped mint, chopped coriander and turmeric powder into it. Add salt as per taste and mix well.

vii. Make small dumplings off this mixture and coat them with semolina by patting both sides in it.

viii. Heat up some oil in a broad base pan and fry each sides for 2 minutes.

Serve with some green chutney or ketchup and enjoy!!!

Water chestnut pakoras: These are a must during the navaratri days in India. It's a period of 9 days where people in north India fast and have light food devoid of wheat etc. I made a quick preparation of potato coated with water chestnut flour. Turned out really flavourful.

Ingredients: Potatoes ( peeled and grated) - 4 medium, Ginger (paste) - 1 inch, Green chillies ( finely chopped) - 4, Curd - 1/2 cup, Water chestnut flour - 6 tbsp, Black peppercorns ( crushed) - 1 tsp, Ghee( clarified butter) for pan frying, Salt to taste

Steps:

i.Wash the grated potatoes multiple times to remove the starch.

ii. Mix all the ingredients together and let it rest for 15 minutes.

iii. Potatoes would have soaked the curd and a thick paste would have been formed.

iv. Heat up some ghee in a broad base pan and drop 1 tbsp of the mixture into it.

v. The mixture will automatically settle down ; fry each side for 2 minutes until golden brown.

Serve them with some chutney and enjoy!!!

Watermelon feta cheese salad: This salad is something that people swear by during summer. It gives a burst of flavours in your mouth and is super easy to make as well. It consists of 2 parts : the dressing and actual salad. There are many variants of the dressings, some like the balsamic one but I made a honey lemon dressing as it was easy to prepare with the ingredients at hand. So let's start!!

Ingredients: Watermelon ( cut in cubes or small scoops) - 1 medium, Black olives (pitted) - 15, Feta cheese - 75 gms, Fresh mint leaves - 1/4 cup, Nuts roasted ( walnuts ) - 1/2 cup, Raisins - 2 tbsp; For dressing: Lemon juice - 2 tbsp, Crushed black pepper - 10, Extra virgin olive oil - 2 tbsp, Salt to taste

Steps:

i. Pour all the ingredients for the dressings in a bowl and mix well

ii. Take a mixing bowl and add the watermelon, roasted nuts, raisins and dressing into it, mix well.

iii. Take out the watermelon pieces in a salad bowl, add mint leaves and black olives into it.

iv. Crumble and spread feta cheese over the salad.

Serve with sparkling red/rose wine and enjoy the summer!!!