Hara bhara Pulao / Green Pulao

A very easy to make and simple one pot, lunch box recipe. Loaded with nutrients and healthy ingredients.

Ingredients:

Green leafy vegetables
      Spinach (Palak) - 1 cup (chopped)
      Amaranthus (Rajgiri / Dantu) - 1 cup (chopped)
      Fenugreek (Methi) - 1 cup (chopped)
      Mint (Pudina) - 1/2 cup chopped
Rice  - 2 bowls
Green Chillies - 3 to 4
Green Peas - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1 (large)
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Cloves - 3 to 4
Cardamom - 2
Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

Blanch all the green leafy vegetables together for 5 to 10 minutes on med flame. Wash them with cold water and keep aside.

Soak the rice in water for 10 to 15 mins.

Cut half onion and blend it together with the greens to a coarse paste. Add little water if needed when grinding.

Chop the other half of the onion. Also slit the green chillies length wise.

Heat a vessel and add oil. Add the cloves, cardamom and cinnamon to it and fry on med flame till the aromas are released.

Now add the chopped onions and green chillies. Fry for a minute. Add the ginger garlic paste.

Add the green peas to the vessel. Now add the rice and the ground paste to it. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Add enough water and salt and mix well.

Pressure cook this for three whistles in the pressure cooker. Serve hot with raita and roasted papad.

Note:

1. You can add more leafy veggies to it.
2. Also you can add paneer to make it more tasty.

Happy Cooking...:):)

Rava Idly

 Rava Idly is a very authentic Karnataka cuisine founded by MTR during World World II. Since there was scarcity of rice during World War II, rava was substituted for rice and this way Rava Idli was found.

 Here is a very easy recipe for Rava Idli which can be made easily and instantly.

Ingredients:

Rava (Sooji) - 1 cup
Curd - 1 cup
Carrot - 1 (grated)
Coriander chopped - 2 tsp
Green Peas - 1/4 cup
Cooking Soda - 1 pinch
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Channa Dal - 1 tsp
Urad Dal - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1 pinch
Cashewnuts - 10 -15

Method:

Dry roast rava till it turns golden brown. Add curd, carrot, peas and coriander to it and mix well.

Heat oil in a pan and temper with mustard seeds, channa and urad dal, cashew nuts and turmeric. Add this to the rava mix.

Add soda and mix well. Keep it aside for 30 mins.

Grease the idli plates with oil and cook the idlis for about 10 to 12 mins or microwave them on full heat for 2 mins.

Serve hot with chutney.

Note:

1. You can add a variety of vegetables and make it more tasty. I use cauliflower, beans, tomatoes etc.
2. If the curd is very sour, you need not add cooking soda.

Oats Upma

This is a super nutritious and healthy recipe. It can be made very quickly. You can make many variations of it by using fresh coconut, vegetables like carrot, beans, peas etc. I have presented here a very basic recipe. Olive oil has been used for this recipe to make it more healthier which can be replaced by regular cooking oil.

Ingredients:

Oats - 1 cup
Water - 2 1/2 cups
Green Chilles - 2
Channa Dal - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Olive oil - 2 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and when it starts to splutter, add channa, urad dal and turmeric.

Add chopped green chillies and when it is fried, add water to the pan. Add sugar and enough salt to it.

When water starts to boil, add the oats slowly while stirring so that no lumps are formed.

The oats take around three to five minutes to cook. The oats turn soft and this is an indication that they are cooked.

Once they are done, turn off the heat and cover them with lid.

Oats when cooked thicken up after some time. Hence switch of the heat when it is still soupy in texture. This helps in getting the right consistency.

Note:
1. You need not dry roast the oats. Use them directly to retain their nutrition.
2. As specified before you can add your own choice of vegetables to this and make it more tasty.

Enjoy a wholesome breakfast.. Happy Cooking.. :)

Aloo Bonda

Aloo Bonda is an authentic South Indian snack. It is very famous and a favourite road side delicacy. It  tastes best with coconut chutney and tomato ketchup.

Ingredients:

For the stuffing:

Potatoes (medium size) - 3
Green Chillies - 2 to 3
Curry Leaves - 5 to 10
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Channa Dal - 1 tsp
Urad Dal - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Chopped Coriander - for garnish
Salt to taste

For the batter:

Gram flour- 1/2 bowl
Rice flour - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder -1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Method:

Boil the potatoes and peel the skin. Mash them well and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add channa and urad dal. Also add turmeric, curry leaves and chopped green chillies.

Once the green chillies are fried, add the mashed potato and salt to it and mix well. Keep the stuffing aside and leave it to cool. Garnish it with coriander.

Mix all the ingredients for the batter. Heat two tsp of oil and add it to the batter. Add water and mix well so that no lumps are formed. The batter should be dosa batter consistency so that it forms an even and thick coating.

Heat the oil for frying. Make small balls of the stuffing and dip them in the batter. Fry them till they are golden brown.

Serve hot with coconut chutney and tomato ketchup.

Note:

1. Always add hot oil to the batter instead of cooking soda. The dish will not soak more oil when frying if hot oil is used in batter.

2. Make variations in stuffing like adding onions or you can also add different vegetables to it.

Eggless Oats Cookies

             A healthy snack... I have tried so many dishes using Oats. One such recipe is Oats Cookies. They can be a healthy way to fill your stomach but in small quantities since they also contain Maida. One such cookie a day can keep your cravings away for Bakery food...:P

I have made this simple recipe in a microwave.

Ingredients:

Maida - 3/4 cup
Oats - 2 cups
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Butter - 3/4 cup
Salt - 1 pinch
Milk - 2 tsp
Oil or butter - for greasing the pan.

This makes around 20-25 cookies.

Method:

Preheat the microwave in convection mode to 180 degrees.

Take the butter and mix it with the sugar. The butter needs to be in the room temperature.

Add maida, oats and salt to this mixture and mix well with your hands. Add milk if required to form a dough.

Grease the pan with oil or butter. You can also use a butter paper so that the cookies come out well.

Make small balls of the mix and flatten. Place them in the pan with some space between them as they expand  when being baked.

Microwave them at 180 degree centigrade for about 7 minutes. Later again at 120 degree centigrade for about another minute.

Remove them and allow them to cool. Store them in air tight boxes after they are cooled completely.

Serve them as a tea time snack. Enjoy Cooking !!

Note:

1. There can be slight variations in different microwave settings. Please keep checking the cookies every two minutes when you are baking it for the first time. This helps them from being burnt.

2. The last minute of baking them at lower temperature gives a crisp golden colour.

3. The cookies appear to be little soft after you remove them from microwave. But then they harden after cooling.

4. Do not store them when still hot. This makes them soggy and very soft.

Diwani Handi

Diwani Handi is a North Indian mixed vegetable side dish cooked in Spinach gravy. It tastes best with Poori and Phulka.

Ingredients:

Mixed Vegetables Chopped (Capsicum, Haricot Beans, Carrot) - 1 bowl
Green Peas - 1/2 bowl
Chopped Spinach - 1 bunch ( 2 bowls )
Onion - 1 med size
Green Chillies - 2
Garlic - 2 pods
Ginger - 1 inch
Milk - 4 tbsp
Cream -  2 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Masala:

Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Cloves - 2 to 3
Cardamom - 2
Cinnamon - 1 inch

Method:

Blanch all the vegetables along with green peas. Blanching means cooking the vegetables in salt water for 5 to 10 mins till they are half boiled. Once they are half cooked wash them in cold water and keep aside.

Repeat the same procedure with Spinach leaves. Blanch them for 5 mins and keep aside. Grind the blanched spinach leaves, onion, ginger, garlic and chillies to smooth paste.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the cloves, cardamom and cinnamon. Add the mixed vegetables and mix well.

Add the ground paste to this. Add half cup of water, milk and cream to the pan. Cook on medium heat till the oil starts to separate and the gravy starts to thicken.

Now add the cumin, coriander powder and garam masala. Add salt as required. Mix well. Serve hot.

Note:

If you are on a diet and would like to include this recipe in your diet, cream can be excluded and use less oil.

The dish still tastes its best.. Enjoy cooking.. :) 

Mysore Pak

Mysore Pak is an authentic sweet dish of Karnataka, first created in the royal kitchens of Mysore Palace.
One of the very famous sweet dish with very few ingredients and generous amount of ghee.

My first attempt of Mysore Pak turned out really good. Here is the recipe.. Happy Cooking :)

Ingredients:

Gram Flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 3/4 cup
Ghee - 1 1/2 cup
Water - 1 cup

Method:

Mix two table spoons of ghee with the gram flour.

Heat water in a pan and when it starts to boil, add sugar to it and mix well. The sugar dissolves completely and starts forming syrup. Now add half cup of hot ghee to this and mix well.

Add the gram flour to the pan while stirring continuously so that no lumps are formed. Now keep adding little  ghee each time and keep stirring the mix.

When the gram flour starts to thicken, the excess ghee is released on the sides. Rub a plate with ghee and pour the mix onto it and spread. After two minutes, when the mixture is still hot, cut it into pieces.

Aloo Methi Rice

Simple and one of the best lunch box recipes.

Ingredients:

Cooked Rice - 3 cups
Potatoes - 2
Methis leaves (Fenugreek leaves) - 1 large bunch
Sambar Masala - 2 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Channa Dal - 1 tsp
Urad Dal - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 5 to 6
Chopped Coriander - for garnish

Method:

Cook the potatoes in the cooker for two whistles. Peel the potatoes and chop them into small cubes and keep aside.

Chop the methi leaves finely and wash them. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the channa and bengal gram dal. Also add turmeric and curry leaves.

Add the methi leaves and shallow fry for 5 minutes until the leaves turn soft. Now add the chopped chunks of potatoes to it. Mix well. Add the sambar masala, coriander, cumin and chilli powder. Also add salt.

Mix well and leave it for two more minutes on low flame. The potatoes take on all the flavours.

Take the cooked rice in a large pan and add the cooked aloo methi masala to it and mix well. Garnish with coriander and serve.

Note: You can also replace Sambar powder with Garam masala. That tastes good too.

Happy Cooking... :)

Schezwan Fried Rice

     Lots of vegetables and lots of sauces....thats what makes Chinese cuisine wonderful..:) The minute you hear the name of Chinese cuisine, you remember Manchurian, fried rice, soya sauce, vinegar etc. 

     I wanted to try out the schezwan version of fried rice since long time. Recently came across a ready made schezwan sauce from "Ching's". So made Schezwan fried rice with it. The rice turned out to be really good. So wanted to share this recipe in my blog.

Here is the recipe for easy schezwan fried rice.. :) Happy Cooking.. :)

Ingredients:

Cooked Rice - 2 bowls
Chopped Vegetables (carrot, haricot beans, cauliflower, capsicum) - 1 bowl
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp
Garlic (finely chopped) - 2 tsp
Onion (finely chopped) - 1 medium size
Ching's Schezwan Paste - 4 tsp

Method:

Heat oil on high flame. Add onions and garlic. When the onion turns white and transparent, add the chopped vegetables and stir fry till they are half cooked.

Now add the schezwan paste. Add the rice and mix well. Stir fry it for two more minutes. Add salt and turn off the heat.

Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream with Chocolate Sauce

       This is my second trial with Ice Creams. Vanilla ice cream if topped with any flavoured sauce or syrup, it is called a sundae. The dessert is then named on the sauce used. So this dessert of mine would be called a "Chocolate Sundae". This sounds more sophisticated and tasty... :P

So here is the recipe for Chocolate Sundae. Enjoy cooking !!!.... :):)

Ingredients:


Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Whipped cream - 2 cups
Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
Chocolate Sauce - 2 tbsp

Method:

Heat milk in a pan till it is about to boil. Add sugar to this and mix well. Let it cool completely.

One bowl of cream should be whipped until soft peaks are formed. A properly whipped cream should not fall when the bowl is inverted.

Add the vanilla extract to the cream and mix softly.

Add the milk to the cream and mix well.

Spread it in a flat dish and keep it in the freezer for around four hours or until it if firm. Remove from the refrigerator and scoop out the ice cream in a bowl. Top it with Chocolate Sauce and serve. You can also use other flavours for the ice cream.

Babycorn Pakoda

Spicy and yummy treat for a wonderful evening. It is very easy to make tastes best with tomato ketchup.

Ingredients:


For the Masala Paste:


Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt to taste


For the Batter:


Corn flour - 3 tsp
Gram Flour - 3 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Cooking Soda - a pinch

Method:

Blanch the baby corn in boiling salt water for 5 to 10 minutes. The babycorn needs to be softened. If it is not yet soft keep them in hot water for some more time. Then drop them in ice cold water to stop the cooking process.

Mix all the ingredients for the masala, and coat the babycorn with it. Refrigerate it for 15 to 20 mins.

Mix all the ingredients for the batter and refrigerate it too for the same amount of time as the masala.

Heat oil in a pan. Dip the masala baby corns in the batter and deep fry them in oil.

Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

Recipe Courtesy: ndtv good times

Mughlai Vegetable Biryani

I am always fond of trying out different rice varieties and Biryani tops the list. Mughlai Biryani always sounds very royal and exotic and relished by everyone. I am sure the Mughals wound never have opted for a veggie version but it is always good to try out one. Tried to find a nice recipe for Mughlai Biryani and finally found one. This turned out to be super tasty and not so difficult to make.

Enjoy a  wholesome meal with this recipe... :)

Ingredients:

For Rice:

Long grain Basmati Rice - 2 cups
Lemon -  1/2
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tsp

For Vegetables:


Mixed vegetables (Carrot, Haricot Beans and Cauliflower) chopped - 1 bowl
Green peas - 1/2 bowl
Salt - 1 tsp

For the Masala:

Onion Chopped - 1 (approx 1/2 bowl)
Tomatoes - 2
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Cashewnuts - 10
Poppy seeds - 1 tsp
Coconut grated -  2 tsp
Cardamom - 2
Cinnamom - 1 inch piece
Cloves - 4
Thick curd -  2 tbsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp
Chopped Coriander - 1 cup
Chopped Mint - 1 cup

For garnish:

Deep fried chopped onions - 1/2 cup
Deep fried cashewnuts - 1/2 cup

Method:

Rice:

Wash the rice and soak it in enough water for 15 mins. Then add half lemon juice, half teaspoon salt and oil and cook it in open for 15 mins till it is done enough.

Vegetables:

Take a saucepan and add water to it. Add salt and blanch the chopped vegetables for five minutes. Beans take more time to get cooked. So add it first and then after 2 minutes, the rest of the vegetables can be added. Once the vegetables are blanched, remove them from heat and place them in cold water. This stops them from cooking further.

Masala:

Take cashewnuts, poppy seeds, coconut and tomatoes and grind them to fine paste.

Take oil in a large pan, add chopped onions, cardamom, cinnamom and cloves. Then add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Now add the ground cashew paste to the pan. Saute for a minute.

Reduce the flame and add the curd. Also add the coriander, cumin, chilli powder and garam masala. Add salt. Now add the half cooked vegetables and cook on low heat till the masala comes to a side dish consistency.

Now add the boiled rice, chopped mint and coriander and mix well. Cook for another ten minutes on low flame till all the moisture evaporates and the rice takes up the flavours.

Garnish with onion and cashewnuts and serve hot.

This tastes best with curd raitha ( curd blended and mixed with chopped onions, coriander, chilli powder and salt).

Note:

1. Adding lemon juice make the rice more bright and grainy.
2. Use chilled curd so that it does not split when added to the hot pan.
3. Haricot beans is round beans and tastes best for Biryani. I found them in Namdhari's. You can always replace them with normal ones.

Enjoy a wholesome exotic meal.. Happy Cooking :)

Aloo Palak

Aloo Palak is boiled potato slices cooked in spinach gravy. Tastes good with Chapathi and Roti.

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 2 to 3
Spinach - 1 bunch (approx 1 bowl of chopped spinach leaves)
Onion - 1 med size
Ginger garlic paste -1 tsp
Cashew nuts - 10
Oil - 1 tsp
Ghee - 2 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 inch
Cardamom - 2
Cloves - 2 to 3
Garam Masala - 2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Chopped coriander - for garnish
Salt to taste

Method:

Boil the potatoes and peel their skin. Make small pieces using a knife and keep aside.

Heat sufficient water in a pan and put spinach into it allow it to simmer for 5 minutes or till the spinach leaves turn soft. Remove the spinach leaves from pan and put them in ice cold  water for few seconds. This retains the colour of the spinach leaves.


Chop the onion into large chunks and grind it along with the spinach and cashew nuts. Add little water while grinding.

Add ghee and oil to a pan and heat. When hot, add jeera, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves.
Also add ginger-garlic paste and saute for few seconds.  


Now add the blended paste to this. Cook on med flame for 2 mins. Add the potato chunks to this and also the garam masala, coriander and cumin powder. Add enough water to get gravy consistency. Add salt and mix well. Cook for some more time till the oil starts to separate.


Remove from flame and garnish with coriander. Serve hot.

Note:

This process of placing the leaves in hot water for some time and then adding them to ice cold water is called Blanching.

Blanching is done:
1. To retain the colour of the vegetables as in Spinach, Beans etc.
2. To halt the cooking process so that the vegetables are not overcooked.
3.  Also to remove strong odour from vegetables as in onions.
4. When you blanch nuts like almonds and pistachios, it becomes easy to peel their skin.

Mavinkayi Bisi Uppinkayi (Instant Mango Pickle)

All time favourite food in my family and frequently cooked during the summer season. You can store this for a week if you refrigerate it or it lasts for two days outside.

Ingredients:


Raw Mango - 2 (diced)
Chilli powder - 1tsp

Salt to taste

Jaggery - 1/4 cup (or 1/2 if the Mangoes are too sour)

Uppinkayi (Pickle)  powder - 2 tsp

Curry Leaves - 5 to 6

For tempering:

Oil - 4 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Bengal Gram - 1 tsp

Black  gram - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Method:

To prepare the Powder:

Take equal quantities of Urad dal, Mustard Seeds and Methi seeds and shallow fry till the urad dal become brown and the mustard seeds splutter.  Cool the ingredients and powder them in the grinder. You can store this powder in an airtight container and use it for later use.

For the Bisi Uppinkayi:

Take a pan and heat oil in it. Add the mustard seeds and when they begin to splutter add the bengal and the black gram. Also add turmeric and curry leaves. 

Now add the mango pieces and saute it for few seconds. Now add around 3 to 4 cups of water to it and allow the mangoes to cook. 

Once the mangoes are cooked, add the salt and chilli powder. Add the powdered jaggery and also the grounded powder. Cook it for few more minutes on low flame. 

Add little oil to the pan once you switch off the stove.This enhances its taste.


This is a similar recipe to my previous post Tomato Bisi Uppinkayi. Its only that you need to add more water while cooking than for the tomatoes.

Potato Saagu

All time favourite for any occasion. It tastes great with Chapathi, Poori and Rava Idli's too.

Ingredients:

Potatoes (Med size) - 4
Tomatoes - 2
Chopped Corainder - 2 tbsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Channa Dal - 2 tsp
Urad Dal - 2 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds (Jeera) - 1 tsp
Coriander  powder - 2 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 2 tsp
Chilli powder - 2 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:

Cut the potatoes in big chunks and pressure cook them for two whistles. Peel their skin and randomly chop them into small pieces with knife. Mash a small quantity of potato (approx 1/2 potato).

Also, chop the tomatoes finely.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and jeera. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add channa dal, urad dal and turmeric.

Put the tomatoes into the pan and cook on med flame till then turn soft. You can add little water to this.

Once the tomatoes are cooked, add the potatoes and mix well. Add little more water.

Now add Cumin powder, Coriander powder, Chilli powder, Sugar and Garam Masala. Simmer for around 5 minutes until the potaoes soak the masala flavours. Add in the chopped coriander and salt. Potato Saagu is ready to be served.

Note:

1. I have mashed little amount of potato only to give the thickness to the gravy.
2. Onions can be a good replacement for Tomatoes or you can add them both.