Garlic Pepper Rice

Serves - 2 people

INGREDIENTS:

Basmati Rice - 1 cup

Red and yellow peppers - 1 cup chopped

Onion - 1/2 cup finely chopped

Garlic - 10 pods

Cashews -10 no.s

Curry leaves- a handful

Fennel seeds - 1 teaspoon

Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Kashmiri red chilli powder -3/4 teaspoon

Black pepper powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Oil - 2 tablespoon

Ghee - 1 tablespoon

Coriander leaves - for garnishing

METHOD:

1. In a pot, take sufficient water. Once it starts to boil, add 1 cup of washed basmati rice and mix well. Keep the flame to sim, and cover and cook for 10 to 12 minutes. Filter the remaining water. You can see the rice cooked well and also not sticky . Also chop onions, garlic and yellow and black peppers fine and keep aside. 

2.  In a pan, add oil and ghee. To that, add mustard , fennel seeds and curry leaves . Once it crackles, add garlic and cashews and fry till they turn to golden colour. 

3. Now add onions and fry till they are translucent. No need to fry till they turn brown.

 

4.  Now add Turmeric , kashmiri red chilli powder , black pepper powder.  Mix well  and fry until the raw smell is gone. 

5. Now add yellow and red peppers . Sprinkle some water. Cover and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Do not over cook the peppers. The rice will be tasty, if they are slightly crunchy.

6. Now reduce the flame to sim and add cooked basmati rice and mix gently. Also add chopped coriander leaves.

7. Garlic pepper rice is ready !. Serve plain or with yogurt.

"Bread Upma and Mashed Avocado"

Serves : 3 servings

BREAD UPMA:

INGREDIENTS:

Whole wheat bread slices - 6 no.s

Carrot - 1 no. grated

Yellow capsicum - 1 no. chopped fine

Onion - 1/2 cup chopped fine

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Red chilli powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Coriander powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Garam masala - 1/2 teaspoon

Lemon juice - few drops

Salt - as required

Oil - 5 teaspoons

Mustrad - 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Urad dal - 1 teaspoon

Ghee - For toasting bread

METHOD:

1.  Toast each bread  in little ghee separately. Cut each  slice of bread into 8 pieces.  Keep it aside.

2. Grate carrot . Cut yellow capsicum and onion in to fine pieces.

3. In a pan, add 5 teaspoons of oil. Then add mustard, cumin seeds and urad dal. Add chopped onions and fry for sometime.

4. Now add grated carrot , capsicum and fry for some more time.

5. Now add required salt, turmeric, red chilli and corinder powders and mix well. Sprinkle some water and cover and cook until the veggies are soft. 

6.  Now add garam masala and cook for a minute. Switch off the stove. Add few drops of lemon juice. Also add the toasted bread pieces and mix gently. Bread Upma is ready !

MASHED AVOCADO:

INGREDIENTS:

Ripened Avocado - 1 no

Salt - 1/4 teaspoon

Black pepper powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Dried  oregano leaves - 1/2 teaspoon

Lemon juice - few drops

METHOD:

1.  Before cutting the avocado , make sure they are ripened well. The skin of avocado turn slightly dark green and when you touch and gently press the avocado, it should not be firm and should yield to the gentle pressure. That is the indication that the avocado is ripened. Scoop the contents of the avocado using a spoon in a bowl.

2. Using the back of spoon, mash the scooped avocado well ,  to get a paste . Now to that mashed avocado, add salt, black pepper powder , dried oregano leaves. Mix well. Also squeeze few drops of lemon juice. Mashed avocado is ready .This can also be used as a spread on bread .

Sweet Bonda

 This is a tasty sweet made using whole wheat flour , banana and jaggery. 

Yields: 15 pieces

INGREDIENTS:

Whole wheat flour - 1 cup

Banana - 3 medium sized

Jaggery - 1/4 cup

Caradamom powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Baking soda - a pinch

Salt - a pinch

METHOD:

1. Add 3 medium sized banana in a mixer and make puree and take it in a bowl. Now add 1/4 cup of jaggery and mix the contents well without any lumps.

2. Now add 1 cup of whole wheat flour, cardamom powder , baking soda and salt. Mix the contents well. The batter should be in the consistency of cake batter. If needed, you can add some water. 

3. Now , wet your hands with water and take some batter and dip them in the oil in round shapes. Fry till they changed to golden brown. The flame of the stove should be low to medium.

4. Serve with hot chai. sweet bonda / banana appam is ready!

Motichoor Laddu

 Try this easy moti laddu for this diwali. I have made this without adding any artificial colours or flavorings. 

Serves : 9 no.s of laddus

Cooking time: 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

Channa dal/ bengal gram - 1/2 cup

White sugar - 1/2 cup

Water - 1/4 cup

Saffron strands - 3 to 4 no.s

Cardamom powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Oil - For deep frying.

Ghee - 2 to 3 teaspoons(optional) 

METHOD:

1. Soak channa dal in sufficient water for around 5 to 6 hours. When you take a dal and try to break it with hands, it should break softly. Now, drain all the soaked water, and grind the dal in the mixie without adding any water. You should grind it little coarse, with few dals visible. The grinding should be similar to how you grind for making vada. 

2. Now , heat oil in a pan. Take above prepared dal paste and make small flat vadas in hand, and deep fry them in oil . Allow them to cool completely. Break the vadas in to small pieces. 

3. Then grind them in mixie just for 1 to 2 second, to get a coarse powder as shown in the picture below. Do not grind for too long.

4. Now , in a pan, add 1/2 cup of white sugar and 1/4 cup of water. Once the sugar dissolves completely, the sugar syrup starts to boil.  In 2 minutes, if you touch the sugar syrup , it will be sticky. That will be the correct consistency. Do not wait for  string consistency.  Now, keep the stove in simmer mode and add the saffrons strands and  dal powder which you prepared in step 3. Mix them gently and you can see the mixture thickens. Once all the water absorbed, switch off the stove. Sprinkle some cardamom powder and mix well. Allow the mixture to cool for sometime and start making laddus. 

Note: If you want the ladoos to look moist and shining, add some ghee in the mixture ( 2 to 3 tsp) before making laddu . Also grease your hands with ghee and start making laddu. 

Brinjal Kadayal

 Brinjal kadayal or Brinjal Tomato gravy - very easy side dish for rotti or rice.

INGREDIENTS:

Oil - 2 tablespoon

Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Channa dal - 1/2 teaspoon

Urad dal - 1/2 teaspoon

Small onions - 1/3 cup

Dry red chillies - 2 no.s

Tomatoes - 1 medium sized 

Long Brinjal - 3 no.s big sized

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Red chilli powder - 3/4 teaspoon

Coriander powder- 1/2 teaspoon

Asafoetida - a pinch

Salt - as required

Water - 1/2 cup

Tamarind water - 1/4 cup

METHOD:

1. In a pressure cooker, add oil. Then add mustard seeds, channa dal , urad dal and dry red chillies.

2. Then add small onions, and fry for sometime , till they turn translucent.

3. Now add chopped tomatoes and fry for sometime , till they turn soft.

4. Add chopped brinjal pieces and saute for sometime.

5. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder , asafoetida powder and required salt .

6. Also add 1/2 cup water and 1/4 cup of tamarind extract. Cover the lid. Pressure cook for 3 to 4 whistles.

7. Switch off the stove and let the pressure settle by itself. Then open the lid, mash the contents using a masher or using a ladle. Add fresh coriander leaves. Serve hot with rotti or rice . 

Veg Mexican Rice

 Mexican Rice , also known as red rice, is a spicy rice meal that originated in Mexico. Rice cooked with tomatoes , onion , garlic and spices. Usually, mexican rice is made with chicken broth, making a non vegeterian dish. I have tried this mexican rice in vegeterian way, by adding only veggies, tomato puree, onion and spices. The taste was very good and spicy lovers would definitely like it. 

INGREDIENTS:

Basmati Rice - 1/3 cup

Tomato - 1 medium sized

Onion - 1/2 cup finely chopped

Carrot - 1/2 no chopped fine

Red ,Yellow bell pepper - 3/4 cup chopped fine

Green peas - 1/4 cup

Garlic - 3 to 4 pods

Water - 1 cup 

Salt - as required

Chilli powder - 3/4 teaspoon( Adjust according to your spice level)

Pepper powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Cumin powder - 1/4 teaspoo

Oregano - 1 teaspoon

Oil - 1 teaspoon

Butter - 1 teaspoon

METHOD:

1. Soak basmati rice in cold water for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, Chop all the vegetables finely and set aside.

2. In a pan, take some water. Once it starts boiling, add a whole tomato and let it boil for couple of minutes. You can see, the skin of tomato getting peeled off. Remove the skin, and grind the tomatoes along with red chilli powder in to a puree. 

3. In a flat pan, add oil and butter. Once it gets heated, add garlic and after some time add onions. Saute , till they turn transparent . Then add required salt, pepper, cumin powder and mix well.

4.  Now add the soaked basmatic rice and mix it without breaking the rice. Toast the rice for about 2 minutes on medium flame.

5. Now add the vegetables. Also add the tomato puree , oregano and mix well. Also add 1 cup of water. When it all starts to boil, keep the flame to sim and cover with lid . Let it cook for about 20 minutes in slow flame. 

6. After 20 minutes, the rice cooked well. Now garnish with some coriander leaves. Mexican rice is ready! 

Quinoa Khichdi

 An easy breakfast or lunch , that can be made in few minutes and healthy too !. Try this quinoa khichdi to save your time .

INGREDIENTS:

Quinoa - 1/4 cup

Moong dal - 1/4 cup

Water - 1.25 cups

Carrot - 1/4 cup chopped thin

Brinjal - 1/4 cup chopped 

Small onions - 4 to 5 no.s

Ginger - 1/2 inch sized chopped

Garlic - 2 to 3 pods

Cinnamon - 1/2 inch sized

Cloves - 2 to 3 no.s

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Red chili powder - 3/4 teaspoon

Coriander powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Fresh coriander leaves - for garnishing

Oil/ghee - 1 tablespoon

Salt - as required

METHOD:

1. Chop carrot, brinjal, small onions, ginger and garlic. Soak moong dal in hot water for about 20 minutes.

2. In a mixer, grind ginger, garlic, cinnamon and cloves without adding any water . Now in a pressure cooker, add oil or ghee. Then add small onions and also add the ginger,garlic, cinnamon and cloves paste. Fry for 2 minutes, till the onions turn translucent. 

3. Now add carrot , brinjal .Also add turmeric powder , red chilli powder and coriander powder and mix well.

4. Now add soaked and drained dal . Also add quinoa( no need to wash quinoa as it is prerinsed). Also add 1.25 cups of water and required salt. 

5. Now, cover with lid and pressure cook in high for 1 whistle and simmer for 10 minutes and switch off. Once the pressure settles, open the lid and garnish with coriander leaves. Quinoa khichdi is ready to serve ! It taste better , when served hot !

Quinoa Khichdi, pepper tofu , cauliflower curry