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.

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.

Bell pepper (capsicum) Rice

Ingredients

Basmathi/Raw rice- 2 cups

1/2 of each green, yellow , red and orange bellpeppers

or

green bellpepper-2 small ,cut into thin slices

onion-1 cut into thin strips

ginger-a small piece chopped finely

Turmeric powder- 1 0r 2 pinch

salt to taste

coriander leaves- a few chopped finely

To Grind

copra (dry coconut)-2 tsp

red chilli- 1

coriander seeds- 1 tsp

channa dal-1 tsp

urad dal- 1tsp

cinnamon- a small piece

cloves-2

saunf- 1/4 tsp

slightly dry roast the dals alone and grind all this into a coarse powder.

To Season

oil- 2tbsp

mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

chana dal- 1/4 tsp

peanuts- a few

cashews - a few

curry leaves- a few

Method

Cook rice and set aside to cool down.

Heat oil in a pan and add all the items for seasoning. when the cashews and peanuts turn golden brown add chopped onions and ginger . Fry for sometime and when the onions become transparent add the sliced bellpeppers.

Fry for a couple of minutes in high heat and add the ground masala , salt and turmeric powder.

Fry till the oil comes out on top and then add the cooked Rice.

Mix well and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot with chips and raita.

note

Sometimes instead of dry roasting the dals , I add a tsp of idli podi and it sure enhances the taste.

Tomato Rice

This is a simple but very tasty recipe from my friend Shakthi. Earlier,I prepare tomato rice in a different way, But after tasting it in her house I liked it a lot and now I prepare tomato rice only by this method. I love the simplicity and the mild flavors in this dish.

Ingredients

Rice(sonamasoori/basmathi) - 2 cups

onion-1 big chopped into thin slices

tomatoes -2 (medium or big)chopped finely

green chillies- 2 slitted

ginger- 1 small piece finely chopped

garlic-cloves finely chopped

or

ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp

turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

chilli powder- 3/4 - 1 tsp or acc to taste

coriander leaves- a few chopped finely

mint leaves- a few chopped finely

salt to taste

For seasoning

oil- 2 tbsp

cinnamon- 1 small piece(optional)

cloves- 2( optional)

mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

split urad dal- 1/4 tsp

curry leaves- a few

saunf- 1/4 tsp

jeera- 1/4 tsp

method

Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add mustard seeds, split urad dal, jeera, saunf ,(cinnamon,cloves) and curry leaves.

Add the chopped onion ,ginger, garlic and green chillies and fry till the onions turn transparent. (If you are adding ginger garlic paste add it now and fry for a couple of minutes.)

Now add the chopped tomatoes ,salt and turmeric powder.

Fry till the tomatoes become mushy. Add chilli powder and the chopped coriander and mint leaves.

Fry for a minute and then add the washed rice. mix well and add 3 1/2 cups of water. Check salt and pressure cook for 10 minutes.

Serve hot with papad /chips/raita.

Coconut Rice (South Indian)

This is a very simple and easy to prepare dish. It is my entry to this month's AFAM hosted by Suganya of Tasty palettes.

Ingredients

Raw/Basmathi rice- 1 cup

coconut grated- 3/4 or 1 cup

oil- 1 tbsp

mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

Split urad dal- 1/2 tsp

channa dal- 1 tsp

curry leaves- 1 sprig

red chillies- 4

cashew nuts(optional)- a few

peanuts (optional)- a few

asafoetida-a pinch

coriander leaves- a few chopped finely

salt to taste

Method

Cook rice until done. Heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds, cashewnuts, peanuts, channa dal, urad dal,curry leaves, red chillies, asafoetida and then finally the coconut.Fry for a couple of minutes(the colour of the coconut should not turn brown while frying) and then add to the cooked rice.Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Paneer Rice

Sorry folks! I was not able to post anything for almost a month as I was a bit busy with a few other things... Here is a simple recipe of paneer rice which I hope you would love to try.

Ingredients

Fried paneer cubes- 1 pack

curd-3/4 cup

Basmathi rice-2 1/2 cups

turmeric powder-1/4 tsp

chilli powder- 11/2 tsp or acc to taste

coriander powder- 2 tsp

kasoori methi- 1tsp

ginger garlic paste- 1 to 1 1/2 tsp

garam masala- 1/4 tsp

Onions- 2 medium, sliced

coriander leaves- a few chopped finely

mint leaves- a few chopped finely

salt to taste

yellow/orange food color- a pinch(optional)

For seasoning

oil- 2 tbsp

butter - 2 tbsp

bayleaves- a few

cinnamon- 1 stick

cloves- 2

cardomom- 1

star anise-2

saunf-1/4 tsp

Method

Soak the basmathi rice in water for 10 minutes.

In a bowl add curd , chilli powder, turmeric powder, corainder powder, kasoori methi, ginger garlic paste, salt and garam masala powder. whisk well , add the paneer pieces to it and keep aside for 2 hours.

Drain the water from the rice add 2 tsp of oil and microwave it for 2 - 3 minutes.

Heat butter + remaining oil in a pan and add cinnamon, cloves, cardomom, star anise, saunf,bayleaves and sliced onions. Fry for a some time till the onions turn transparent and then add the paneer with the curd. Fry for a couple of minutes in medium flame till the oil seperates and then add the chopped coriander and mint leaves. remove from fire.

Add rice and water in the ricecooker in the ratio of 1: 1 3/4 and add the prepared paneer masala to it. cook till done, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with raita.

note

You can deepfry onions and cashews till golden brown and garnish on top.

Vegetable pulav/biryani

You can call this however u want ... biryani or pulav. Generally they say there is a difference in making biriyani and pulav. My recipe is close to pulav where rice , masala and veggies are cooked together, but I call this as biryani.

This is my entry to 'JFI Rice', started by Indira of Mahanandi and hosted by 'Sharmi of Neiveidyam'.

Basmati rice is a very special type of aromatic rice known world over for their extra long grains, and pleasant and distinct aroma. Traditional Basmati rice is not only in great demand in the domestic markets, but is also seen in the menu of connoisseurs worldwide creating a staggering billion-dollar export market.

Read abt the food facts of Basmati rice here

Ingredients

Basmati rice-2 cups
onions- 1 medium cut into long strips
green chillies- 6 cut into slits
Tomato- 1 medium chopped finely
ginger garlic paste- 1 1/2 tsp
coriander + mint - a few chopped finely
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
chilli powder- 1/2 tsp or acc to taste
Garam masala powder-1/2 tsp
salt to taste
Lemon juice- 1/2 tsp
coconut milk- 3/4 cup if fresh(if using canned milk,take 1/2 cup of milk and mix 1/4 cup water)
mixed vegetables(Beans,carrot,peas,potatoes,cauliflower)- each 1/2 cup chopped
oil+ ghee- 3 tbsp
For seasoning
Bay leaves- 2
cinnamon- 1 piece
cloves- 4
Cardomom- 2
Saunf- 1/2 tsp
Star Anise- 1

Method

Soak rice in water for 15 mins ,drain it well and microwave it with a tsp of oil for 2 mins. keep aside .
Heat oil+ghee in a pressure cooker and when hot add the seasonings . Add onions and green chillies and fry for few minutes till the onions become transparent. Now add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell disappears and add tomato and fry for sometime.
Then add the washed and chopped vegetables, turmeric powder and salt. Fry for some time and add chilli powder, garam masala powder and coriander+ mint. Saute for a minute and add the coconut milk+3 cups of water(I add slightly less water than the 1:2 ratio.)
When the water boils add the rice and lemon juice. mix well, check for salt and close with a lid. Simmer for 5 minutes after the 1st whistle.
Serve hot with Raita.

Channa rice/ Sundal saadham

I learnt this recipe from my Aunt , who is a wonderful cook and this is one of my favourite among many of her delicious recipes. We call it 'sundal Saadam' in tamil and I remember the days of having it with my cousins in her house. It is a very simple dish, easy to make(very easy if use canned channa), and has a very good taste if u have it hot with chips and raita.Try this out and u will all love it.

Ingredients

Rice( basmathi or raw)- 2 cups
soaked overnight and cooked channa- 3/4 to 1 cup

if using canned one use 1 can . I use the canned channa.
Coriander seeds- 3 tsp
Coconut-4 tsp
Jeera- 1 ½ tsp
Red chillies-2 (the chillies I have is very hot and so I use less) or acc to taste
Coriander leaves- 3 tsp chopped finely
Salt to taste
For seasoning
Mustard seeds- ¼ tsp
Broken urad dal- ¼ tsp
Curry leaves- a few

Method

Wash , cook the rice and keep aside. Pressure cook the channa.
Grind coconut, coriander seeds, red chillies, and jeera to a coarse powder without adding water.
Heat oil in a pan add the seasonings one by one and then add the ground powder. Fry for a minute and add channa to it. Keep in a slow flame for 5 minutes. Add salt and coriander leaves. Remove from fire and add the cooked rice to it. Mix it well and serve hot.

Bisibelebath

Bisibelebath/ Sambar sadham requires lot of patience.. .Though I like this a lot, I feel lazy to do this often, as it needs chopping, roasting , grinding and lots of work.The only relief is you dont need to prepare any vegetable curry with this .. It goes well with raitha and chips. Last week when I saw bisibelehuli anna in Nanditha's blog, I wanted to make it and so here is what I made..

Ingredients

Raw Rice- 2 cups
Thoor dal- 1 cup
Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp
Asafoetida- ¼ tsp
Peas- ½ cup
Shallots- ½ cup
Tomatoes-2 cut finely
Carrot -1 chopped into small pieces
Beans- 10 chopped finely
Potatoes-1 chopped into small pieces
Drumsticks- 1 cut into 3” pieces
Brinjal – 1 cut into cubes.
Chowchow- ¼ cup cut into cubes
Garlic- 6 cloves
Green chillies- 3
These are the main veggies. U can add any vegetable u want to this except beets and bittergourd.The more the vegetables the better the taste. I added bottlegourd too with this.
Sambar powder- 1 tsp(optional. As I use very little red chilies ,I add this for better colour.I use sakthi masala)
Tamarind – 1 small lemon sized.
Salt to taste
Ghee- 5 tsp
Coriander leaves- 3 tsp chopped

To roast and grind

Channa dal- 2 tsp
Thoor Dal – 1 tsp
Urad dal- 1 tsp
Coriander seeds- 3 tsp
Jeera- 1 ½ tsp
Pepper- ½ tsp
Fenugreek seeds- ½ tsp
Saunf/Aniseeds- ½ tsp
Curry leaves- a few
Red chillies- 3( the one I have is very spicy so I add little) or acc to taste
Cinnamon- 2 one inch pieces
Cloves- 5
Coconut- 3 to 4 tsp

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and add all the spices except coconut and fry for 2 minutes. Then add coconut finally and fry for a minute. Cool it and grind it to a fine paste by adding water.

For seasoning

Oil- 3 tsp
Mustard seeds- ½ tps
Broken urad dal- ¼ tsp
Fenugreek seeds- ¼ tsp
Curry leaves- a few

Method

Pressure cook the dal with turmeric powder and asafetida and set aside. Soak the tamarind in water and squeeze the juice.
In a cooker or big vessel, add 10 cups of water(1:5 ratio) . when it boils add the rice and the vegetables(from peas to green chillies). When the rice is ¾ th cooked. Add the dal and salt.mix properly and add the ground paste , tamarind juice, sambarpowder and ghee. Partly Cover and cook for a few minutes in reduced flame.Heat oil in another pan and add the seasonings one by one. Now add this to the rice. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with raita and papad/chips and ghee on top.
This bisi bela bhath should be in a slightly semisolid consistency than the normal rice.

check out Shynee's, Deepz's and Sangeetha's and sudhav 's Bisibelabath.

Sakkarai Pongal

Happy Krishna Jayanthi!!!

Sri Krishna Jayanthi - also known as Gokulashtami or Janmashtami, is the birthday of Lord Krishna. In Tamilnadu the houses are decorated with Maavilai and thoranam(leaves from mango and palm trees). Patterns of small feet, drawn with rice flour are made, leading from the house entrance to the puja room, where the idol of Lord Krishna is kept. This symbolises the baby Krishna coming to his devotees' house to bless them and leaving behind his footsteps.Special dishes like murukku, seedai, vella seedai, thengozhal, payasam are all made and offered to the Lord. In the evening, usually a special pooja is done to mark the occasion and people ask one another "krishnar onga veetukku vandacha?" (Has Krishna come to your house?). Kids are also dressed up as Krishna and Radha (young Krishna's lady love at Brindavan).
Source- Chennai online



Ingredients

Raw Rice-1 cup
Moong dal-1tsp
Milk-1 cup
Jaggery grated-2 ½ cups
cashews-10
Raisins-10-15
Ghee-3 tbsp
Elachi powder- 1 tsp

Method

Pressure cook rice and moongdal with milk+water in the ratio of 1:4.
Add ½ cup of water to the jaggery and heat it. When the jagagery melts completely in water , remove from fire, filter it( to remove the dirt from jaggery) and add to the cooked rice. Stir for 3 mins so that the rice and the jaggery blend together.
Heat ghee in a pan and add cashews and raisins to it. Fry till it becomes golden brown and add to the pongal. Finally add elachi powder to it.

Palak Rice

Spinach is a rich source of iron. Hence I try to include it in our diet at least once in a week. Cooking spinach with dal always was boring and so I wanted to try something new. This recipe which I learnt from a friend is very tasty and different. It is very easy and quick to make too. Try this out and you will also like it.



Ingredients

Palak – 1 bunch
Cashews- 8 to 10 pieces
Coconut grated- 1 to 2 tsp
Green chillies-4 or acc to taste
Lemon -1
Coriander leaves(optional)- a few


Method

Wash the palak leaves and cut it.
In a pan just add the palak and sauté it for 2 to 3 mins. No need to add water.
Then grind it with cashews,coconut, green chillies, salt and corianderleaves(optional).Heat 4 tsp of oil in a pan , and fry the ground paste for a few mins. ( do not fry it for a very long time or cover it with lid as the colour may change). Mix this with already prepared plain rice.
Sprinkle lemon rice in the rice and serve hot

Peas Pulao

This is a simple pulao recipe. Try it out and let me know if u liked it...

Ingredients

Basmathi Rice-2 cups
Frozen green peas- 3/4th to 1 cup
Onions-3
coconut milk- 1/2 cup(optional)
oil- 4 tsp
ghee- 1 tsp
To Grind
green chillies-6 (if u want more spicy 8)
cinnamon- 1 smallpiece
cloves-4
saunf-1 tsp
ginger- 1 small piece
garlic- 4 cloves
coriander leaves- a few



Method
Soak the Basmathi rice in water for 15 mins . Drain it , add 1 tsp of oil and microwave it for 2 mins.
Heat 4 tsp of oil and 1 tsp of ghee in a kadai . Add the onions and saute till it becomes transparent. add the ground masala to this. saute till the oil seperates.
Add 1/2 cup of coconut milk + 2 1/2 cup of water or 3 cups of water( in the ratio of 1:1 1/2) in the rice cooker. When it boils add the peas,sauted masala and rice.cook until done.
Serve hot with aloo kurma and raita.

note: I did this in the rice cooker,so i followed this method. U can straight away do this in the pressure cooker too. Instead of kadai add oil in the cooker itself , fry the ingredients and add rice and water to it and cook .

Veg Fried Rice

I love this dish very much and whenever we go out to restaurants in India this is one sure item i order. When i started to cook , i wanted to prepare this by myself and so i got this recipe from my friend. This is now a favourite dish in our family and everybody loves it... try this out and hope u all will like it...

Ingredients

Basmathi Rice- 2 cups
carrot-1/2 very finely chopped
capsicum-1 finely chopped
cabbage-1 cup thinly chopped
spring onions or Scallions- 1 bunch(cut the base onion part and upper green part seperately)
green peas-1/4 cup
ajinimotto-1/4 tsp
soyasauce- 1 to 2 tsp
chilli sauce-optional- 1tsp
pepper powder-1 1/2tsp or to taste
salt to taste
oil-4 tsp

Method
Soak the Basmathi Rice in water for 15 mins. Drain it , add 1 tsp of oil to it and microwave for 2 mins. cook in the Rice cooker along with peas and salt with water in the ratio of 1: 1 1/2 .
Heat oil in a pan and add the white part of the scallions(spring onions) , fry for some time and add the carrots, fry in high flame for 1 to 2 mins and add the capsicum. Fry this again for 2 mins and add the cabbage.
Do not saute it for a long time as the colour of the veggies will change. Add the aginimotto and soya sauce to it. Add salt and pepper. switch off the stove and finally add the green part of the scallions.
When cooled add this to the cooked rice. Serve hot with veg manchurian.

note: The more finely u cut the veggies the lesser time they will take to cook.