Microwave Vegetable Pulao

Who says MW cannot help u make finger licking meals?Ever since I have started to use the MW for purposes other than reheating and defrosting, life has become easier.If not the MW, i cook vegetable pulao in my pressure cooker
giving away the recipe for this pulao
What u need:
a deep MW safe glass/ceramic bowl with lid
Basmati Rice 1 cup (washed and soaked in water for 15 mins)
water 2 cups
chopped vegetables 1 cup
ginger garlic paste 1 tsp
2 tbsp ghee
green chillies 2-3
turmeric 1/4 tsp
coriander pwd 1 tsp
cumin pwd 1/2 tsp
red chilly pwd 1/2 tsp
garam masala 1/2 tsp
salt to taste

dry spices:
bay leaf 2
cumin seeds 1 tsp
pepper corns 1/2 tsp
cinnamon 1"
cardamom 2
cloves 3

procedure:
1) In the MW bowl, add ghee and microwave High for 1 minute
2) add all dry spices, cover and microwave on high for 1 minute
3) Add ginger garlic paste , turmeric pwd, coriander pwd, chilly pwd, cover with lid and put on high for 2 minutes. stir
4)add veggies, garam masala, salt, rice(discard water),2 cups water cover with lid and put on high for 8 minutes , stirring once every 4 minutes
5) stir once again and microwave medium for 5 minutes
6)give a standing time of 5 minutes

Serve with raita or plain curd
heres a visual explanation of the procedure

Low cal microwave tomato soup

Soups form a major part of my dinner everyday.So I am always looking for options to cook them in a jiffy, without much hastle, usually oil or fat free.Heres a recipe I learnt from Chithra, with my own slight modification

Makes one bowl
Ingredients:
2 tomatoes
1 small onion
1/4 tsp sambar masala
1/4 tsp pepper powder
salt to taste

In a microwave safe bowl, cut tomato into large cubes.Do the same for onion.
Add sambar powder and 3 tbps water.Cover the lid
Microwave high for 3 minutes
Give a standing time of 5 minutes. Then the cooked contents in a mixie and puree it
Add 1/2 cup water to liquidise it and transfer to MW bowl
Add salt, mix and sprinkle pepper.
Microwave for 1 minute.
Remove, serve