Seasoned Rice

I will always do this as a breakfast item with night left over rice. This is very easy and fast recipe to do when you are planning to leave early in the morning.



Ingredients:
Onion - 1
Green chillies - 2
Ginger - 1/2 inch
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Asafoetida - a pinch
Red Pepper flakes - 1/2 tsp
Grounded black pepper - a pinch
Turmeric - a pinch
Mustard - 1 tsp
Zeera - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 2 tsp
Soy sauce - 2tsp
Dried parsley - 1 tsp
Carrot - for garnishing
Corriander - for garnishing
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt

Method:

1. Seperate the rice grains with hand and make it fluffy without any lumps and keep aside.
2. In a thick bottomed non-stick pan, heat oil and do the seasoning with mustard, zeera, urad dal and curry leaves.
3. Add chopped or grated ginger, chopped onions, chopped green chillies and saute them.
4. Then add turmeric, asafoetida, salt and mix well.
5. To this, add the rice and mix well under medium flame until rice is heated up.
6. Add pepper flakes, pepper, parsley and stir.
7. To this add soy sauce and garnish with grated carrot and corriander.

You can even add hard boiled and then fried eggs to this in the last.

MMM... mouth watering Seasoned Rice is ready for breakfast..! Let's serve it HOT!!!

Green Bell Pepper Pickle

Spicy... Hot Hot... Yummy pickle...

Ingredients:
Green bell peppers -1 (Capsicum)
Lemon - 1 (Big juicy one)
Chilli powder - 1/3 cup
Garlic - 5 pods
Methi (Fenugreek) seeds - 1 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Hing (Asafoetida) (Inguva) - a pinch
Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup
Salt

Method:

1. Wash and air dry bell pepper. Cut it lengthwise on one side, snipping a little on the base of the stem.
2. Remove the seeds and make into slices. Cut garlic into small cubes.
3. Roast fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds together in a pan and allow the mixture to cool. Later, grind them into powder.
4. Peel the lemon and take out the fruit wedges out and cut them into halves.
5. Heat oil in the pan, add garlic first and then add bell peppers and saute them.
6. Gently add lemon pieces and again saute them.
7. Then add chilli powder, above spicy mix, asafoetida, turmeric, salt.
8. Turn off the heat and close this pan with lid for 30 sec to avoid escape of flavors.
9. Transfer this into clean dry bowl and allow it to air cool.
10. Make sure that this whole mix is under oil. If there is no enough oil, pickle may get spoiled because of bell peppers.
11. Keep it outside for two days stirring frequently to make lemon sour than bitter. And then refrigerate.

Enjoy with steaming white rice/upma !!!

Sambar with a Twist ;)

Sambar is a dish common in southern India and Sri Lanka, made of Lentils. Apart from a high level of proteins, lentils also contain dietary fiber, vitamin B1, and minerals.Before going into the recipe of this sambar or Lentil soup, lets talk few things about Lentils.

Lentils have a short cooking time and a distinctive earthy flavor. Lentils are used to prepare an inexpensive and nutritious soup all over Europe and North and South America. Lentils are used throughout the Mediterranean regions and the Middle East.

Lentils are relatively tolerant to drought and are grown throughout the world. About half of the worldwide production of lentils is from India, most of which is consumed in the domestic market. Canada is the largest export producer of lentils in the world.

A large percentage of Indians are vegetarian and lentils have long been part of the indigenous diet as a common source of protein. Usually, lentils are boiled to a stew-like consistency with vegetables and then seasoned with a mixture of spices to make many side dishes such as sambar, rasam and dal, which are usually served over rice and sometimes roti.

Here is my version of Sambar.


Ingredients:
Toor dal - 1/4 cup
Bottle gourd - 1/2 (medium sized)
Beans - 4 (Chikkudu kayalu)
Tomatoes - 1 (remove the seeds and slice into wedges)
Carrot - 1/4 (cut into circles)
Corn seeds - 3/4 cup (frozen)
Indian beans - 1/4 cup (frozen Valor Lilva)
Onion - 1 (Med size, sliced)
Oil - 2tbsp
Water 4-5 cups (excluding water to cook dal)
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Zeera seeds - 1tsp
Coconut- 1tbsp(fresh or dried - optional)
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Sambhar powder - 1tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Tomato pickle - 1tsp (Here the twist lies. This used for sourness instead of tamarind and for color instead of red chilli powder)
Cilantro or corriander - for garnishing
Salt - to taste

Method:

1. Pressure cook toor dal with 1:2 ratio of water and grind it if needed.
2. Simultaneously, in a pan, heat the oil and do the seasoning.
3. Add onions and saute till transparent. Add bottle gourd and beans, sautee again for few min and cook with lid ON until bottle gourd is half cooked.
4. Then add carrot, Indian beans, corn and let it fry for 1 min. Allow it to cook until bottle gourd is done.
5. Put tomato wedges, sambhar powder, salt, asafoetida and fry for 1/2 min.
6. Add the pressure cooked dal with water, turmeric, and tomato pickle (I used Mom made tomato pickle. U can use any brand; If you dont have, u can substitute with tamarind and chilli powder) to the above vegetables and allow it to boil for 10-15 min with lid ON (again with lid ON to fasten the process and also to condense all the flavours) under medium flame untill the oil starts to seperate.
7. This is the time to add coconut and garnish with corriander.

Thats it! Your HOT HOT MOUTH WATERING SAMBAR is ready to serve with idli/dosa/white rice :-)

Sambar is usually served with steamed rice. Sambar with rice is one of the main courses of both formal and everyday south Indian cuisine. In south India, vada sambar and idli sambar are popular for breakfast or lunch, and sambar is often served as a side dish at dinner.


Sambar is also served for breakfast across much of urban north India, commonly with idli, vada or dosa, along with two chutneys: a cool green coconut chutney and a mildly spicy red tomato chutney.

Read and Enjoy :-))

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Stuffed Acorn Squash

Acorn squash is a winter squash with distinctive longitudinal ridges and sweet, yellow-orange flesh. The most common variety is usually dark green in color. However, newer varieties have arisen including Golden Acorn, known for its glowing yellow color, and even some that are white.

The acorn squash is not as rich in beta-carotene as other winter squashes, but is a good source of dietary fiber and potassium, as well as smaller amounts of vitamins C and B, magnesium and manganese. -Wikipedia

I love this recipe as it is easy to prepare, healthy and very funny while scooping to eat :)



Method:

• Cut squash in half from stem to point and remove seeds and strings. (To make this easier, pierce squash with a knife or fork and microwave a minute or two.)
• Place cut side down on lightly greased baking sheet with sides. Bake at 350F until almost soft but not mushy, 20 - 30 minutes.
• Remove from oven, fill with the following stuffing and bake again for 5 more min.
• Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top of squash.

Let it stand for 2 min and serve hot!

Vegetable Stuffing:
Ingredients:
Onion - 1 med sized(chopped)
Carrots - 1/2 cup (chopped)
Celery or cucumber - 1/4 cup (chopped)
Mushrooms - 1/4 cup (thinly sliced)
Garlic - 2 cloves (minced)
Seasoned bread crumbs - 1 cup
Eggs - 1 1/2 (2 whites & 1 yolk)
Crushed pepper - 1 tsp
Butter - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste

Method:

1. In large fry pan saute onion, garlic and mushrooms until soft.
2. Add carrots and celery or cucumber and saute again and cook with lid ON on medium heat.
3. When these are done add salt and crushed pepper.
4. Pour 1/2 cup of water and allow to boil.
5. Then add bread crumbs and cover with lid for 2 min.
6. Remove the lid and add the beaten eggs and scramble it. These eggs act as a binding agent for the stuffing mixture.
7. When this is done, stuff this warm mixture in cooked squash.

Have FUN !!!

Tomato masala Pappu Rasam

Ingredients:
Tomatoes - 3
Toor dal - 1/4 cup
Coriander seeds - 2 tsp
Zeera - 1 tsp
Poppy seeds - 1 tsp
Garlic pod - 1 big
Mustard, zeera, green chillies, red chillies and curry leaves for seasoning
Oil - 1/2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Pressure cook tomatoes and dal separately. Mix and grind them into a fine paste with some water.
2. Boil this by adding enough water required to make it little thick rasam.
3. Stir frequently to avoid burning.
4. Mean while, prepare the masala paste by grinding coriander seeds, zeera, poppy seeds and garlic with little water.
5. Add masala paste to the above boiling liquid tomato mixture and boil it for 3-5 min.
6. Add salt and seasoning and garnish with fresh cilantro (coriander).

Serve with steaming white rice along with papad!

Tomato Chutney

We like tomato very much... ofcourse, who doesn't like it! With such a colorful and delicious vegetable/ fruit, we do tomato pappu/ dal, tomato koora/ curry, tomato pacchadi/ chutney etc etc etc...

This is one of the ways of the tomato chutney we do...


Ingredients:
Ripe Tomatoes - 3 med sized (washed and chopped roughly)
Onion - 1 big sized (chopped roughly)
Garlic cloves - 4
Dried red chillies - 3
Idli powder - 1/2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Asafoetida - a pinch
Oil - 2 tbsps
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat oil in a skillet. Add mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering, add dry red chillies.
2. After that, add garlic and fry for few seconds. Add onions and saute` till the onion turns light brown.
3. Add curry leaves and asafoetida.
4. Next add chopped tomatoes, saute and allow to cook with the lid on to fast the process, till the tomatoes becomes soft.
5. Blend them coarsely / finely in a food processor as per your interest along with idli powder to make it little crunchy. Add salt to taste.

Goes with hot idlis / dosas / white rice / curd rice.

Beetroot Majjiga pulusu

Ingredients:
Beetroots - 2
curry leaves - 1 sprig
dry red chillies - 3
mustard seeds - 1tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
buttermilk - 2 cups
Besan - 1tbsp
water - 1 cup
Salt to taste
oil - 2tbsp

Method:

1. Cut beetroot into small cubes and keep it aside.
2. Heat the oil and do the seasoning with mustard, red chillies and the curry leaves.
3. When the mustard starts spluttering, add the beetroot and salt.
4. Cook covered till the beetroot is done.
5. Add the whisked buttermilk, water and the hing and mix well.
6. Heat on a low flame for 2-3 minutes.
7. Mix besan with little water and make it to thin paste and add this to above. (This is to make the above mixture little thick consistency.)
8. Allow this to cook on low flame for another 2 min and take off from the stove.
   

Serve hot with plain rice.

Tip: Add bit tamarind juice to avoid breaking of curds while heating.

The other version of this can be found from Seema's blog recipejunction.blogspot.com

Methi Paratha

Ingredients:
Wheat flour - 2 1/2 cups
Methi - 1bunch (washed and chopped into small pieces)
Onion - 1medium sized , chopped into very small pieces
Jeera - 1tsp
Chilli powder - 1tbsp
Corriander powder - 1tsp
Turmeric powder - 1tsp
Butter stick
Oil - 1tbsp
Salt

Method:

1. Heat the above oil in a pan and add jeera. When it starts spluttering, add onions and fry until translucent.
2. Then add the masala powders and fry for ½ minute.
3. Now add the chopped methi leaves and fry for another minute.
4. For the above mixture add the wheat flour and make dough adding water only if required.
5. Roll the parathas as thin as possible and roast on both sides on pan until u see small brown spots and then spread some butter/oil if desired.

You can even preserve them in refrigerator by placing in air tight container or zip lock bags for 1 week.

Marinated Carrots

Simple, Healthy and yummy, fat free recipe..!


Ingredients:
Carrots - 5big ones or Baby carrots - 20
Green chillies - 5
Lemon - (1-2) Big juicy ones
Salt to taste (needs more quantity of salt because of lemon juice and raw carrots)

Method:

1. Wash carrots and chillies and let them air dry for a night or half day.
2. Cut carrots as shown in fig.
3. Cut chillies also in the same size as carrots.
4. Mix them together with salt and lemon juice.
5. Let them marinate well for two days by stirring frquently.
6. Keep them refrigerated to be fresh for 3 weeks.

Enjoy with hot white rice and ghee.

Kanda Bacchali Koora

Ingredients:
Yam (Kanda) (frozen cut pack) - 1
Bacchali (Indian Spinach) - 1 bunch
Tamarind - 1 marble size (juice it)
Mustard paste - 3/4 tbsp
Zeera seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1tbsp
Green chillies - 2
Red chillies - 2
Curry leaves - 1
strand Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2tbsp Salt
Salt.

Method:

1. Pressure cook Yam with little water and turmeric until it is done. Wash the bacchali leaves and cut finely. Slit green chillies and keep aside.
2. In a heavy bottomed kadhai, heat the oil and add jeera seeds, urad dal, red chillies and saute until nicely roasted.
   
3. Add the green chilies, curry leaves and the bacchali leaves.
   
4. Allow bacchali to boil until tender and add the mashed yam.
   
5. Mix tamarind juice and leave for 8 minutes on low flame.
   
6. After removing from flame add the mustard paste.
   
7. Adjust the salt.
8. Serve with white rice!!!

Cauliflower Pickle

Ingredients:
Cauliflower - 1 medium sized
Carrots - 4 long (optional)
Mustard seeds - 1 & 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
Chilly powder - (1/4 - 1/2) Cup
Garlic - 2 pods
Lemon - (2 - 3) (big juicy ones - adjust according to your sour tooth)
Oil - 6 Tbsp. (Approx)
Salt - As required

Method:

1. Wash & cut cauliflower into small florets and carrots (optional) into 1 inch long pieces as shown in pic and let them air dry on a paper towel or on a dry cloth.
2. Dry fry Mustard seeds & fenugreek seeds and grind them into powder.
3. Take chilli powder in bowl and pour warm oil & mix them. (Microwave the oil to a temperature that it makes the Chilli powder to fry and take off the raw smell of chillies. Note it should not be too low or too high. U should hear the BUSSS sound when you pour the oil.)
4. Once its mixed well, add the above powder, fresh grounded garlic, and florets.
5. To this mixture, add salt & lemon juice.
6. Let it stand outside for 2 days till the florets are seasoned well.
7. Keep it refrigerated, this way it will last for about a month.
   

Enjoy the Crunchy pickle with hot rice or upma!!!