Coriander Rice

Got this simple but wonderful recipe from my friend Jayanthi. Perfect for lunchbox.

Ingredients

Rice( basmati/sona masoori)- 2 cups

coriander leaves- 1 bunch

green chillies- 4 or acc to taste

coconut (grated)- 1 1/2 tbsp

onion- 1 large chopped into thin slices

salt to taste

For seasoning

oil- 2 tbsp or acc to taste

mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

channa dal- 1 tsp

jeera-1/2 tsp

red chillies-2

ginger- a small pice chopped finely

curryleaves- a few

asafoetida- little

Method

Cut the stems from the coriander bunch, wash well and chop them roughly .

Grind coriander leaves, coconut and green chillies to coarse paste.

Cook rice seperately.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, channa dal, jeera, red chillies, asafoetida, ginger and curry leaves.

Add onion slices and saute until it turns transparent. Then add the ground paste and salt. Fry for some time till the raw smell disappears.

Add cooked rice to it and serve hot with raita.

Note:

U can add green peas or lima beans in the coriander rice.

Banana bread

Ingredients

Wheat flour- 1 cup

All purpose flour- 1 cup

butter-1/2 cup

sugar-1 cup

baking powder- 1 tsp

baking soda-1 tsp

bananas (well ripened)-3

walnuts -1/2 cup chopped

eggs-2

salt-1/4 tsp
Vanilla essence-1/2 tsp
Method
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
Bring the butter and eggs to room temperature.
Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time to the butter, sugar mixture and beat well.
Mash the bananas seperately and add vanilla essence and sour cream to it .
In another bowl ,sift together the wheat flour, all purpose flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
Add dry ingredients to the wet ones and fold in the chopped walnuts. Mix gently and pour the batter in the greased loaf pans.
Bake for 50 minutes or until the toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean.
note:
I have used equal amts of wheat and all purpose flour. You can use wheat flour alone if u are health conscious or make it the regular way with all purpose flour only.

Mixed vegetable chutney

I got this recipe from my friend Radha. It tastes great with Idly and dosa. Goes well with rice too.

Ingredients

onion-1

Zuchini-1

capsicum- 1

Red pepper- 1/2

carrot-1

brinjal -1 medium sized or 2 small

urad dal-1 tbsp

channa dal- 1 tbsp

salt to taste

red chillies- 5 or acc to taste

tamarind - a small piece

oil- 2bsp

coriander leaves- a few

curry leaves - a few

Method

chop all the vegetables into cubes.

Heat oil in a pan and add channa dal, urad dal, curryleaves. When the dals become golden brown add the chopped onions. Saute for a couple of minutes till it becomes transparent and then add all of the veggies along with tamarind and chillies.

Saute for some time till the veggies soften. Add the coriander leaves finally and remove from fire .

Grind them when cool and serve with idly or dosa.

Gobi Manchurian -dry

Ingredients

For deep frying

cauliflower-1 , cut into small florets

allpurpose flour/ maida-6 tbsp

cornstarch-4 tbsp

chilli powder- 1 tsp or to taste

salt to taste

oil for deep frying

For the sauce

oil-1 1/2 tbsp

yellow onion(medium size)-1 chopped finely

green onions- 1 bunch,chopped (the base white part and top green part seperately)

ginger- a small piece, chopped finely

green chilli- 1 chopped finely

garlic- 5 cloves, chopped finely

corn starch-1 tbsp

chilli sauce-1-2 tsp acc to taste

tomato sauce-1tbsp or to taste

soy sauce-1 tbsp or to taste

salt to taste

Method

Mix all purpose flour/maida ,cornstarch ,chilli powder and salt in a bowl and a little water to make a thick paste (bhajji consistency).

Wash cauliflower florets and add it to the paste. mix it well so that the florets are coated well with the paste.

Deep fry the florets in oil and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan, add the chopped onions and the base part of the green onions. fry for some time and add the chopped ginger , garlic and green chilli pieces.Add salt to taste.

Saute for a minute and add the chilli sauce, tomato sauce and soysauce.

Mix the cornflour with water and add it the mixture.Simmer the flame and when the sauce thickens add the deep fried cauliflower florets.

Mix well so that the florets are covered well with the sauce. sprinkle the chopped green part of the spring onions and serve hot.

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

All purpose flour- 2 1/2 cups

sugar- 1 or 1 1/4 cup

baking powder- 1 1/2 tsp
baking soda- 1 tsp
salt- 1/8 tsp

blueberries(fresh or frozen)- 1 1/2 cups

butter- 1/4 cup

eggs- 2

oil- 1/4 cup

milk- 3/4 cup

yogurt- 1/4 cup

vanilla essence- 1 - 2 tsp

Method

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and grease the muffin tray.

Powder the sugar and sift it along with flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Bring the butter to room temperature and whisk it well . Add eggs to it and whisk again. Add oil, milk , yogurt, and vanilla essence to it and whisk everything well. You can use the hand mixer at low level too.

Toss the blueberries with a tbsp of flour ( so that the bluberries do not sink at the bottom of the muffins) and set aside.

Mix the flour mixture to the wet mixture with a rubber spatula. Do not whisk or beat the mixture at this stage as the muffins would turn out harder. Just mix them gently and fold in the blueberries. Be careful not to squish them.

Fill in the batter to the greased muffin pan until 3/4 th .

Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the muffin comes out clean.

Cool them in wire racks.

note

I used 1 cup of sugar ,but felt the sweet content was less and so next time i would surely go for 1 1/4 cups.

Ven Pongal

Ingredients

Rice- 1 cup

split/yellow moong dal- 1/2 cup

cashews-a few broken into small pieces or halved

cumin-seeds- 1tsp

pepper- 1 tsp

green chillies- 1slited

ginger - a small piece chopped finely

asafoetida- a couple of pinches

curry leaves- a few

salt to taste

oil-1tbsp

ghee- 1 tbsp

Method

Dry roast the dal lightly for a couple of minutes till a nice aroma comes and set aside. Be careful not to turn it brown.

Heat oil and ghee in a pressure cooker and when hot add the cashews,pepper, cumin, ginger,green chilli ,curry leaves and asafoetida. Keep in a low flame and make sure nothing gets burnt.

Add the dal and the washed rice to it and then add 4 cups of water . Check salt and pressure cook it. ( As we add more water for this , most of the time the water overflows . To avoid this I follow this method: partly cover with a lid, turn on high flame and let it boil. After some time when the rice , dal and water are in even consistency ,close with a lid. When steam comes add weight and simmer for 15 minutes.)

When the steam subsides completely,open the cooker and mix it well so that it gets mashed lightly.

Serve hot with sambar or coconut chutney.

Note

You can pressure cook the dal and rice and then do the seasonings finally too.

Vegetable Upma

Ingredients

rava- 2 cups

onion- 1 chopped finely

tomato- 1 chopped finely

green chillies-2 slitted

ginger- 1 small piece chopped finely

carrot-1 chopped finely

beans- 6-8 chopped finely

peas- 1/2 cup

capsicum-1/4 chopped finely

potato-1 chopped finely

cooked channa- 1/4 cup

turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp or less

chilli powder- 1/4 tsp or acc to taste

garam masala powder- 1/4 tsp

coriander leaves- a few chopped finely

salt to taste

Seasonings

oil- 2 to 3 tbsp

mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

split urad dal- 1/4 tsp

channa dal- 1/2 tsp

cashews halved- 5

asafoetida- little

curry leaves- a few

Method

Dry roast the rava in a heavy bottomed pan for a couple of minutes till the raw smell disappears.

Transfer the rava in a different plate and keep aside.

Heat oil in the same pan and add mustard seeds, cashews, channa dal, urad dal, curry leaves and asafoetida one by one.

When the cashews turn golden brown , add the chopped onions, green chillies and ginger. Then add the chopped tomatoes, fry for some time and then add all the chopped veggies .

Saute for sometime and add salt, turmeric, chilli , garam masala powders and 1/2 cup of water to it.

Simmer the flame and close the pan with a lid .When all the veggies are cooked, add 2 cups of water and the roasted rava (1:1 ratio). Mix well and close with the lid for a minute. Upma is ready now... serve hot with chutney or pickle.