10 quick tips to instantly improve your food blog

1. Clean up your sidebars
Remove any unnecessary links and widgets that don’t add value to your blog or reader. Ideally, your sidebar should only contain tools that encourage your readers to visit other pages through a list of recent and popular posts or advertising or links to products (such as ebooks or cooking classes) which helps you earn money to support your blog.


This includes removing links to your Foodgawker, Tastespotting and other food photography gallery pages in your sidebar. Not only do they clutter up your sidebar, but they encourage visitors to leave your site. Wouldn’t you rather your readers browse your website than Foodgawker for recipe ideas?

This equally applies to links to websites you’ve appeared on. Again, it’s just more encouragement for visitors to get distracted and leave your site.

Finally, remove your blogroll from your sidebar and create a page to specifically list all of your favorite blog posts.

2. Add a list of popular posts to your sidebar
Now that you’ve cleaned up your sidebar you can begin by adding some useful content to it that will increase your page views. Adding a list of popular posts, especially with thumbnail images, is a great way to increase page views. There are plenty of plugins available that provide this functionality. Examples include nRelate Popular Posts and WordPress Popular Posts.

3. Install a related posts plugin
Along the same lines as point 2 above, displaying a list of related posts at the end of your post is a great way to increase page views and increase reader engagement. Check out nRelate Related Posts, Yet Another Related Post Plugin and LinkWithin.

4.  Install a recipe plugin
Not only do recipe plugins help attractively format your recipe, but they also provide SEO benefits. Check out the Easy Recipe plugin and support its Australian developers!

5. Install a sharing plugin
If you don’t have a sharing plugin installed, install one now! The existence of sharing buttons on your website encourages your readers to share your awesome recipes with the world and also increases your page views and the possibility of your post going viral. Some great sharing plugins include WP Socializer, Digg Digg and Jetpack‘s sharing buttons.

6. Add an email subscription box
Don’t have an email list? Get one now!

There are a lot of great Email List Managers out there, such as MailChimp (which I use) and Aweber that offer fantastic tools to enable you to communicate with your readers. Sign up with an Email List Manager (MailChimp is free for lists under 2,000 subscribers) and add a signup box to your sidebar now that you’ve cleaned it up in step 1. Mad Mimi is another option to check out too.

7. Speed up your website
By speeding up your website not only will you improve your food blog and the experience for your readers, but you’ll also improve your SEO. There several caching plugins available that help you do this. Some of the best include WP Super Cache and W3 Total Cache. If you want something simple, that you can simply install, set and forget about go with WP Super Cache.

Before you install a caching plugin check your website speed with either of the following tools – Pingdom Page Speed or GT Metrix. Once you’ve installed your caching plugin rerun the test and watch your page load time decrease!

Plugins are also notorious for slowing down your blog. Check out P3 Plugin Profiler to find out which plugins are slowing your site down and replace them with a faster plugin, or remove them altogether.

You can discover more tools for speeding up your blog and diagnosing performance issues in this great post from CopyBlogger and   How to Speed Up Your WordPress Site from Social Media Examiner.

8. Interlink your posts
This tip not only improves SEO but also helps direct your readers to posts that they might not have previously seen, increasing your page views.

An example of this might be where you are writing a post on a new chocolate cake recipe you’ve tried, but you’ve posted other chocolate cake recipes previously. When you mention the word “chocolate cake” you can highlight those words and insert a link to your previous chocolate cake post by using the Insert Link feature in your post editor toolbar.

You can learn more about internal link best practices from SEOmoz and the benefits of interlinking from ProBlogger.

9. Add a search box
This one might seem obvious, but sometimes it’s the simple things that are overlooked. Adding a search box will enable your readers to search for the content they are looking for, and in the process increase page views. WordPress includes a default search widget that you can add to your blog sidebar, but there are also some great plugins out there for searching, such as Relevanssi.

10. Add links to your social networks
If your readers like your blog they may want to see what you have to say on your social media accounts too. There are countless ways to add links to your social media accounts. This can include social media widget plugins or using predesigned buttons (there are lots of great custom ones available on Etsy) or even designing your own.



Do you have any tips on improving your blog that we’ve overlooked? Share your tips below.

Dahi Puri Recipe 

Chaat and Tikki, Snacks

It’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t like to enjoy chaat! Dahi Puri Chaat is yet another member of popular Indian street chaats that is made by stuffing crispy puffed puris with boiled potatoes and topping it with a combination of sweet, sour and spicy chutneys, onion, sev and beaten curd (dahi) giving it a perfectly balanced tongue tickling taste. It is perfectly suited as a party-snack as it can be easily prepared in large quantities, ingredients can be prepared in advance, just needs assembling at the time of serving and guests can customize it to their taste. This step by step photo recipe of Dahi Puri explains how easy it is to make it at home.


Ingredients:
8 Puri (Golgappa Puri)
1/2 cup boiled and chopped Potato
1/4 cup chopped Onion
2½ tablespoons Sweet Date Tamarind Chutney
1½ tablespoons Green Chutney
1 teaspoon Garlic Chutney, optional
1/2 cup Curd, beaten
1/4 cup Sev
Coriander Leaves, for garnishing


Directions:

(1)Prepare Sweet Chutney, Green Chutney and Garlic Chutney, by following their recipes. Mix 1-teaspoon garlic chutney with 1-teaspoon water to dilute it. Keep all other ingredients ready.

(2)Gently make a hole on the top side of each golgappa puri by cracking it in the center with a spoon or index finger. Take one serving plate and arrange them on it.

(3)Fill each puri with 1-tablespoon potato and 1/2 tablespoon onion.

(4)Drizzle 1-teaspoon date tamarind chutney over potato.

(5)Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon green chutney over it.

(6)Drizzle 1/4 teaspoon garlic chutney over it.

(7)Pour 1-tablespoon curd over each puri.

(8)Sprinkle Sev over it and garnish with coriander leaves. Dahi Puri Chaat is ready for serving. Serve it immediately.


Taste: Crispy puri with tongue tickling sweet, spicy and mild sour taste
Serving Ideas: Serve it as evening snack or as party snack in the kitty party.

Hara Bhara Kabab Recipe 

Peas (Matar), Snacks, Spinach, Starters


In India, people like to binge on snacks in evenings and Hara bhara kabab is yet another Vegetable Cutlet like snack prepared with spinach and green peas that makes evening even more relaxing and enjoyable. These kababs (tikkis) are best way to add nutritious spinach in your diet and this recipe’s step by step photos make it very easy and simple to prepare at home in less than 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

2 cups Spinach
2 medium Potatoes, boiled
3/4 cup Green Peas (matar), fresh or frozen
1 Green Chilli, roughly chopped (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon chopped or grated Ginger
2 tablespoons chopped Coriander Leaves, optional
A pinch of Turmeric Powder, optional
A pinch of Green Cardamom Powder, optional
1/4 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
3/4 teaspoon Dry Mango Powder (amchur powder)
2½ tablespoons Roasted Gram Flour (or crushed daliya dal or breadcrumbs or crushed cornflakes or crushed oats)
3 tablespoons Breadcrumbs
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon + 2 tablespoons Oil

Directions:

(1)Boil potatoes in salted water until soft. If you are using fresh green peas then boil them in hot water until soft. If you are using frozen peas then thaw them (we used frozen green peas in this recipe).

(2)Blanch the spinach – boil spinach in hot water for 2-3 minutes, drain using colander and immediately transfer spinach into cold water. Drain cold water using colander.

(3)Roughly chop the blanched spinach.

(4)Heat 1-teaspoon oil in a pan over medium flame. Add green peas, blanched spinach and salt.

(5)Stir and cook spinach and green peas mixture until almost moisture is evaporated and it turns dry – it will take around 3-4 minutes depending on the moisture in peas and spinach. Add coriander leaves and a pinch of turmeric powder (turmeric powder is an optional ingredient; it is added to enhance the green color) and mix. Let the mixture cool for a while.

(6)Take green chilli and ginger in a small chutney jar of a mixer grinder.

(7)Grind them until medium coarse texture. Add cooked spinach-green peas mixture and grind again until smooth texture (or medium coarse texture if you like it).

(8)Mash or grate the boiled potatoes in a medium size bowl. Add crushed greens (prepared in step-6), cardamom powder, garam masala powder, dry mango powder, roasted gram flour, breadcrumbs and salt to taste.

(9)Mix all the ingredients and taste it. If required, add more salt or dry mango powder to get tangy taste. If the mixture is wet or sticky, add more breadcrumbs and mix again.

(10)Grease your palms with oil and divide mixture into 8 equal portions. Take each portion and give it a round shape of ball. Press it gently between your palms to flatten it and give a shape like pattie (tikki) as shown in the picture.

(11)Heat 1-2 tablespoons oil in a non-stick pan or non-stick tawa over medium flame. When pan is medium hot, put 2-3 tikkis at a time (as per the size of a pan) and shallow fry until bottom surface turns light brown, it will take around 2-3 minutes.

(12)Flip each green tikki and shallow fry another side until light brown, it will take around 1-1.5 minutes.

(13)Transfer each kabab to a plate. Serve hara bhara kabab with tomato ketchup or with beaten curd as afternoon snack.


Taste:  Savory with crisp outer layer and soft inner
Serving Ideas:  Serve hara bhara kabab in party or as an evening snack with tomato ketch up or hari dhanya chutney

Khandvi Recipe

Breakfast, Gujarati, Snacks, Top 10 Breakfasts

It is a mouth watering traditional Gujarati snack prepared with gram flour and buttermilk and seasoned with sautéed sesame seeds and few other spices. It’s not only easy to make but healthy as well because it just involves steaming gram flour and buttermilk and does not require any other complex cooking techniques. However, you need some basic cooking knowledge to make the khandvi. The simple yet aromatic seasoning of sauteed cumin, mustard, curry leaves, coriander and coconut makes it simply irresistible.This step-by-step photo recipe also provides two different ways to make it. 1) Traditional khandvi rolls and 2) Easier khandvi noodles.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Gram Flour (besan/chickpea flour)
1 cup Sour Buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder (haldi)
Salt
For Seasoning:
1 teaspoon Sesame Seeds (til)
1/2 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
1/2 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1-2 Green Chillies, seeded and finely chopped
10-15 Curry Leaves
2 tablespoons Scraped Coconut
4 tablespoons finely chopped Coriander Leaves
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons Oil

Notes:
Use the fresh gram flour (not very old) to make the khandvi. If the flour used is not fresh, khandvi will break while rolling.To check gram flour is fresh enough or not, mix 1 teaspoon gram flour with 1 teaspoon water and if the mixture is sticky enough then it is fresh. Old flour has less stickiness compared to fresh one and it tastes little bit bitter.

Directions-1: (Khandvi Rolls)
(1)    Take gram flour, buttermilk, turmeric powder and salt in a large bowl. Mix properly and make smooth batter using a hand blender. Grease a large plate or back side of a thali or an aluminum foil with cooking oil and keep aside.
  
(2)    Pour batter into a heavy bottomed pan or a kadai and cook on low flame.
  
(3)    Keep stirring constantly to avoid lump formation.
   
(4)    *Cook until mixture becomes thick and does not taste raw. It will take approx 8 minutes. (Time may vary depending on the thickness of pan and quantity of batter. See tips given below to learn how to check whether batter is cooked or not).
  
(5)    Transfer a large spoonful of batter over previously greased plate or thali. Spread batter in a thin layer with the backside of a flat spoon or a spatula. Depending on the quantity of the batter and size of a plate, you may need 2-3 plates to spread the whole batter.
   
(6)    Let it cool for 3-4 minutes. Once cooled, place straight cuts using a knife and make 2″ wide strips.
   
(7)    Carefully roll each strip into a roll (like a swiss roll) and transfer them to a serving dish.
   
(8)    Heat 2 tablespoons cooking oil in a small tempering pan. Add mustard seeds; when they begin to crackle, add cumin seeds, curry leaves and green chillies and let them cook for around 30-40 seconds. Add sesame seeds only in the end when the sauté is ready.
   
(9)    Pour prepared seasoning over khandvi rolls.
   
(10)    Sprinkle shredded coconut and chopped coriander leaves. Serve it with a spoonful of green coriander chutney or garlic chutney.

Directions-2 (Khandvi Noodles):

(10)    Follow the steps 1-4 (from directions-1) and prepare the batter. Cool the batter for few minutes (approx. 4-5 min).

(11)    Take a sevai machine and fit the thick sev mould in it. Grease the entire inner surface of machine with oil, fill it with batter and close the lid.
   
(12)    Move machine over greased plate and turn its handle continuously to force the batter out through mould (same process as you make a chakli). Let noodles cool for 3-4 minutes.
  
(13) Separate noodle strands carefully and break into small pieces. Transfer them to a serving plate or bowl. Follow step-8 of directions-1 to prepare the tempering and pour it over khandvi noodles.


Taste: Soft and mild sour
Serving Ideas: Gujarati Khandvi can be served with a mouth watering green mint chutney or date chutney (khajur chutney). Serve it as an evening snack with the tea/coffee or as a side dish for dinner. This snack is healthy and suitable for kids; pack kandvi in their lunch box for a nice surprise.

Bread Pizza Recipe 

Fast Food, Kids Friendly, Snacks

 
Bread pizza is one of the quickest and easiest recipes to make at home using bread, cheese and veggies for dinner or afternoon snack. It’s the innovative version of traditional pizza as it has a similar look and same toppings but has a different pizza base. In this pizza, the bread slice is used as pizza base and hence there is no need to make the pizza dough and wait until it rises like the traditional one. If you have bread slices, pizza sauce (or tomato ketchup), your choice of toppings and cheese then it hardly takes 15-20 minutes to satisfy your pizza cravings. Follow the below given recipe with step by step photos to make this delicious snack for kids birthday party or for evening snack.

Ingredients:

6 slices of Bread (any type of sandwich bread, whole wheat, brown, white, multi grain)
3 tablespoons Pizza Sauce or Red Pasta Sauce or Tomato Ketchup
1 medium Onion, cubed (approx. 1/4 cup)
1 medium Tomato, deseeded and cubed (approx. 1/4 cup)
1/2 Capsicum, cubed (approx. 1/4 cup)
6 Olives, sliced, optional
1 cup grated Cheese (pizza cheese or mozzarella cheese)
1/4 teaspoon dried Oregano (or Mixed Italian Herbs or Pizza Seasonings)
1/4 teaspoon dried Basil (or Mixed Italian Herbs or Pizza Seasonings)
1/2 teaspoon Red Chilli Flakes, optional
Oil, for shallow frying (Olive oil preferable for best flavor)
Note: You can either use 1/4 teaspoon Oregano + 1/4 teaspoon Basil OR 1/2 teaspoon mixed Italian Herbs OR 1/2 teaspoon Pizza Seasonings.

Directions:

   
(1)Either follow this recipe of Homemade Pizza Sauce to make it at home or use the readymade sauce or tomato ketchup.
   
(2)Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a tawa or a frying pan over low-medium flame. Place 2-3 bread slices on the hot surface of tava.

(3)Toast it until bottom surface turns light golden brown. Make sure that the bottom surface doesn’t turn dark brown. When the bottom surface turns light golden brown, flip each slice and turn off the flame.
   
(4)Transfer them to a plate. Lightly spread olive oil over it. This step is optional but it prevents the bread from turning soggy and enhances the flavor.
   
(5)Spread 1/2 tablespoon pizza sauce (or as needed) on each slice of the bread.
  
(6)Place cubed onion, cubed tomato, cubed capsicum and sliced olive over it.

(7)Spread grated pizza cheese or mozzarella cheese over it.
   
(8)Sprinkle dried oregano and dried basil (or pizza seasonings or mixed Italian herbs) and red chilli flakes over it.
  
(9)Place them on the pan and heat it over low flame.
   
(10)Cover the pan with a lid and toast it over low flame.
   
(11)Toast it until the cheese melts and the bottom surface turns crispy. It will take approx. 2-3 minutes. Transfer it to a serving plate and serve with tomato ketchup.


Taste:  Cheese and Crispy
Serving Ideas:  Serve bread pizza with tomato ketchup as an afternoon snack or as a light evening dinner. It can be also served with milkshake or fruit smoothie in kid’s birthday party.

Rava Idli Recipe 

Breakfast, Dhokla, Idli and Dosa, Instant, Snacks, South Indian, Top 10 Breakfasts


South Indian cuisine is known for its healthy recipes and rava idli (suji idli) is one of the simple recipe which combines the goodness of many dals and spices. It’s not just healthy and irresistible but also very easy to prepare too. Now a days there are few ready-made instant rava idly packs available in market which just required adding some water and steaming. However, nothing can beat the taste of authentic preservative free soft and fluffy home made idli.

Ingredients:
1 cup Rava (suji / semolina)
1/2 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
1/2 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1 pinch Asafoetida (hing)
1 teaspoon Chana Dal (gram dal)
1 teaspoon Urad Dal (black split lentils without husk)
1-2 sprigs Curry Leaves
1 Dry Red Chilli
6-7 Cashew Nuts, broken into pieces
1/3 cup Thick Yogurt (curd)
1/2 cup grated Carrot
2 Green Chillies, finely chopped
1 teaspoon grated Ginger
1 cup + 2 tablespoons Water
2 tablespoons finely chopped Coriander Leaves
1 teaspoon Eno Fruit Salt
2 tablespoons Oil
1/2 tablespoon Ghee
Salt


Directions:
(1)step-1Heat 1/2 tablespoon ghee and 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy based pan or kadai. Add mustard seeds; when they start to crackle, add cumin seeds, asafoetida, chana dal and urad dal. Sauté until dal turns light brown. Add curry leaves, dry red chilli and cashew nuts and sauté for 30-40 seconds.

(2)Add rava (semolina) and mix well.

(3)Roast it on medium flame until it turns light brown, stirring continuously. Make sure that it does not burn. Turn off the flame and transfer it to a plate. Allow it to cool for 7-8 minutes.

(4)Prepare a mixture of curd, chopped green chillies, grated ginger and salt in a large bowl.

(5)Add roasted rava and (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) water and mix well. Make sure that there are no lumps.

(6)Add grated carrot and chopped coriander leaves and mix properly. Keep batter aside for 15 minutes to settle.

(7)Pour 2 glasses water in steamer and heat over medium flame. Grease Idli molds (plates) with oil. Add Eno fruit salt in batter and stir for a minute.

(8)After adding eno, you will notice bubbles on the surface of a batter.

(9)Pour batter in greased molds and steam it on medium flame for 10-15 minutes. Do not steam it on very high or very low flame.

(10)After 15 minutes, turn off flame and remove molds from steamer. When it cools down a bit, remove prepared idli from it.

(11)Instant rawa idli is ready, serve with coconut chutney.


Taste: Soft and spongy
Serving Ideas: Serve it with coconut chutney and sambhar. It is a perfect dish for breakfast but can be served in lunch or dinner too.

Rava Dosa Recipe 

Breakfast, Idli and Dosa, South Indian


Rava Dosa, a thin and crispy crepe made from rava and rice flour, is one of the easiest type of Dosa to prepare at home. Unlike other Dosa Recipes, Rava Dosa doesn’t require batter to be fermented overnight and can be prepared instantly in just 15 minutes; mix all ingredients (rava, rice flour, maida, finely chopped onion, cumin seeds, green chilli, ginger, water, salt, etc.) and let it rest for 20 minutes. Simple, isn’t it? Additionally, this Instant Rava Dosa Recipe also explains the entire process with step by step photos and gives tips for how to prevent them from sticking to Tawa. So what are you waiting for? Let’s get started and make your breakfast even more delicious and enjoyable!


Ingredients:

1/2 cup Rava (sooji/semolina)
1/2 cup Rice Flour
1/4 cup Maida (all purpose flour)
1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1 Green Chilli, finely chopped
1/4 inch Ginger, grated or finely chopped (approx. 1/2 teaspoon)
5-6 Curry Leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped Coriander Leaves
1 Onion, finely chopped (approx. 1/4 cup), optional
2¼ – 2½ cups Water (approx.)
Oil, for roasting dosa
Salt to taste


Directions:

(1)Assemble all the ingredients to make the batter.

(2)Add 1/2 cup rava (sooji), 1/2 cup rice flour and 1/4 cup maida in a large bowl.

(3)Add salt (approx. ½ teaspoon or to taste) and 2 cups water. Mix well using a large spoon or a wire whisk until there are no flour lumps.

(4)Add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 chopped green chilli, 1/4 inch chopped/grated ginger, 5-6 chopped curry leaves, 2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander leaves and 1/4 cup finely chopped onion.

(5)Mix well and check the batter for consistency. It should have pouring buttermilk like consistency (NOT like simple dosa batter). Add more water until batter attains pouring consistency. Cover it with a plate and let it rest for 20 minutes. After about 20 minutes, check for the consistency again. Rava (semolina) absorbs water after soaking so batter may become thick. If required, add more water to bring it to pouring consistency. Stir the batter and mix well.

(6)Heat a non-stick dosa tawa/skillet over medium flame. Ensure that tawa is hot otherwise the batter will stick to the pan and dosa will not come out easily. You can check whether tawa is sufficiently hot or not to make dosa, sprinkle few drops of water on it. If water droplets evaporate immediately, it means tava is hot and ready to make dosas. Take ladle full batter and pour from about 3-4 inch height on in a circular motion starting from edge to the center.

(7)Pour the batter until it covers the center. Maintain some holes here and there. These holes steam to escape and makes dosa crispy.

(8)Sprinkle 1/2-teaspoon oil around edges of dosa. Cook until it turns light golden brown and crispy, for approx. 2-minutes.

(9)Flip it on another side and cook for another minute or until it turns little crispy.

(10)Transfer hot thin crispy rava dosa to a serving plate and serve it with coconut chutney.

(11)Repeat the process from step-4 to step-9 for remaining batter. Stir and mix the batter well before making each dosa.



Taste: Crispy
Serving Ideas:  Serve it hot with green coconut chutney, red coconut chutney, and Vegetable sambar in the breakfast. It can also be served in as a light evening food in the dinner.
Author: Foram