Tomato Dill Pulav

Tomato pulav is something which I wanted to try out from a long time.I have already put tomato rice recipe.This is slightly different from the tomato rice.I usually like rice which is made from whole spices and this one is quite an easy one to prepare rather than the regular rice pulav.
I have combined Dill leaves along with tomatoes for this recipe.

Ingredients,
Cooking oil- 1 tablespoon
Shah jeera/Kaala Jeera - 1/2 teaspoon
Cinnamon- 1 inch
Green cardamom - 2
Cloves- 2
Star Anise - 2 pieces (two petals)
Bay leaf - 1
Ginger and Garlic paste - 1 teaspoon
Tomato - 1/2 cup (cut into small pieces)
Onion - 1/2 cup (cut into small pieces)
Dill leaves - 1 cup (washed and cut into small pieces)
Rice - 1 1/2 cups (I used basmathi rice)
Tomato  - 1 (Blanched and pureed)
Turmeric - 1/2 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon (if you want this to be less spicy add only 1/4 teaspoon)
Salt - 1 1/2 teaspoon (vary according to taste)

1. Rinse basmathi rice and add 1 cup and 1/2 of 1/4 cup of water.
2. In a pan take 1 tablespoon of oil and add kaala jeera,cinnamon,cardamom,cloves,star anise,bay leaf and saute.
3. Add onions and saute till translucent.Add ginger garlic paste and saute.
4. Add cut tomato pieces and washed and cut dill leaves.Saute well.
5. Add prepared tomato puree,turmeric and red chilli powder and cook until the mixture thickens on low flame.
6. Add this prepared mix to the soaked rice and add salt to it.
7. Cook it in pressure cooker for 3 whistles.
8. If you are cooking without pressure cooker add 3 1/4 cups of water and cook until rice is cooked.

Rinse basmathi rice and add 1 cup and 1/2 of 1/4 cup of water

In a pan take 1 tbsp of oil,add bay leaf,cinnamon,cloves,cardamom,

shah jeera and star anise.

Add onions and saute till translucent.Add ginger garlic 

paste.

Add chopped tomato pieces and chopped dill leaves.

Add prepared tomato puree with turmeric and red chilli powder.

Cook until the mixture  thickens on low flame.

Add the prepare mix and salt to the soaked rice.Cook for 

3 whistles in  a pressure cooker.

Tomato Dill pulav.

Huggi

Huggi is the authentic rice recipe prepared  from green grams and rice with a whole lot of black peppers.This is done mostly in Karnataka during winter season.This recipe is from my Mother in law.She adds a few spices like cumin ,black pepper and cloves made into fine powder and then added it while making Huggi.
Huggi is like khichdi or pongal in Tamil.My measurements are a little different from pongal because I use more of moong dal than rice.

Ingredients,
Moong dal -1cup
Sona masoori rice - 1/2 cup
Fresh coconut - 1/4 cup (grated or small pieces of fresh coconut)
Black pepper- 1/2 tsp and a little lesser than 1/2 teaspoon more to be grinded along with cumin and cloves.
Cloves-2
Cumin -1 tsp
Salt- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons.
Turmeric -1/3 teaspoon

For tempering,
Oil -2 tablespoons
Ghee - 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin- 1/2 teaspoon
Asafoetida- a pinch
Curry leaves- 4-5

1. Take moong dal,rice and 1/2 tsp of black peppers in a bowl and add 2 cups of water to it and cook.(I cooked it in a pressure cooker for 3 whistles)
2. Grind a little lesser than 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper,cumin and cloves into fine powder.
3. In a pan take 2 tbsps of oil and 1 teaspoon of ghee.As it gets heated add mustard seeds and cumin seeds,a pinch of asafoetida and curry leaves.
4. Take the whole cooked moong dal and rice in a pan and add 2 cups of water.Keep stirring on medium flame.
5. Add coconut,Grinded fine powder,salt and turmeric.Keep stirring on medium flame.
6. Switch off the stove and add the tempering.Do not stir the tempering.
7. Allow huggi to cool down a little before serving.

Take moong dal,rice and black peppers with 2 cups

of water and cook till 3 whistles.

Cooked moong dal and rice with black peppers.

Grind a little lesser than 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper,

2 cloves and 1 teaspoon of cumin to fine powder.

Take the cooked moog dal and rice and add coconut,

turmeric,grinded masala powder and salt.Add 2 cups of 

water and keep stirring on medium flame.

Add tempering and serve when it is warm.

Huggi.

Brown Rice

Everyday it is a quotidian practice for me to make white rice with some curries or daal.Rotis and Bhakris are just affiliated sometimes with the rice.When we moved to a new city,we had to buy a lot of new things including a rice cooker.Moving from one city to another is an endeavoring process and we were very tired also.While we were heading back after our check out at store ,a lady started to say,ohhh got a rice cooker?,cook brown rice in it.I gave  her a bantam smile .May be she could figure out that we were too exhausted,so didn't bother about us replying back to her.We came home and I was excited to start using my new rice cooker,I looked into my pantry and I saw this indolently sitting pack of  brown rice.Grabbed it ,rinsed it with water and cooked it up.Anybody who have tasted this brown rice will not have it just plain,either they do salad with it or fry it in olive oil and make fried rice.I also had to do something mercurial with it.I cut a few of the vegetables and tossed them in olive oil ,added salt and mixed it well.My family just loved it.When I make up my mind about doing something I will make sure that it is tasty and also nutritious for my family and brown rice happens to be most nutritious than the usual white rice.

Ingredients for Fried Brown Rice,
Brown rice-1 cup
Basil leaves - 4
Beans- 8(chopped)
Carrots -1(big,chopped)
Peas- half of 1/4 cup
Green chillies-1(long slitted)
Soy sauce- 1 teaspoon
Salt-1 teaspoon
Olive oil-1 tbsp

1. Cook the brown rice (in a pressure cooker add 1 1/4 cup of water for 1 cup of rice until 3 whistles) and keep it ready
2. Take olive oil in a heated pan and add all the chopped vegetables except basil leaves,add soy sauce 
3. Add the basil leaves and toss it for a second.
4. Add the brown rice and salt and take it off the stove and mix it well.
5. If you keep the pan on the stove even after you add the rice,the rice starts getting sticking to the base of the pan.
6. Transfer to bowl to serve.

Fried rice

My most wanted to do rice recipes in my list was fried rice.Fried rice is a salient component of Chinese cuisine .Fried rice was originated in China.Rice is fried along with the other vegetables and meat and then served on the table,especially people who wanted to remove food from a few days earlier- Wikipedia .
Well I am not using any left over rice to make this fried rice.I used Basmati rice here and soy sauce.I would like to do this anytime because of the amount of vegetables I use in here makes it nutritious too.
Since I am using soy sauce here I didn't include salt in my ingredients list,but if needed one can add salt as desired.

Ingredients for Fried Rice
Basmati rice- 1 cup
Olive oil- 2 tbsp
Mushrooms-3 (chopped)
Spring onions- 4 to 5 strands(chopped)
Beans-6(cut into small pieces)
Carrots-6(baby carrorts or 1 big carrot,cut into small pieces)
Green chilli-1 (this is optional,slitted length wise)
Soy sauce-2 tbsp
Grated ginger-1/4 tbsp
Garlic-1 clove(chopped)

1. Cook rice in a pressure cooker ,Add 1 cup of water for 1 cup of rice and cook it for 3 whistles.
2. Heat the pan and add olive oil to it.Add all the grated and chopped ginger and garlic,pour in all of the cut vegetables into it.
3. Add the soy sauce to it.
4. Now add the cooked rice to it and mix well.
5. Remove form heat and transfer to a serving bowl.

Bisi bele bath

Bisi bele bath is an authentic rice recipe in Karnataka .Can't resist to eat when it is hot and served with ghee.One of my favorite recipes .I love to do this from the scratch,right from making the spice powder or masala for this.Any body who has been to Karnataka ,can never forget the taste of  Bisi bele bath.The main ingredients used in this are raw rice and toor daal.

Ingredients for the masala powder,
Coriander seeds- 2 tbsps ( previously I had written measures in teaspoons,you can change it to tbsp for more spice or add red chilli powder also).

Red chillies(whole)-3 (you can add some red chilli powder for more spice)
Cumin seeds-1 tbsp
Fenugreek seeds-1tbsp
Dry coconut (grated) -1 teaspoon
Hing-1/4 teaspoon
Cinnamon-1/2 a stick or 1 inch .
Urad daal-1/2 a tbsp
Channa daal-  1/4 tbsp

Roast all the ingredients

• In a pan first roast coriander seeds and red chillies in less than a 1/4 tea spoon of oil.transfer it to a bowl
• Next roast the cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds in  less than a 1/4 tea spoon of oil and add it to 
• Then roasted coriander seeds and red chillies
• Roast asafoetida(hing) ,cinnamon,coconut  till golden brown and then put it aside
• Roast channa daal and urad daal till you start smelling the the daal or till they turn golden brown.Keep stirring it or else the daals might get burnt.
• Grind all these roasted ingredients to a fine powder .I use coffee bean grinder (from target), to grind masala powders.

Ingredients for Bisi bele bath, 

Raw rice-  1 cup

Toor daal-1/2 cup

Carrot -2 ( big carrots chopped )

Beans- 8 to 10(cut into 1 inch pieces)

Potatoes- 1( 1 inch squares)

Peanuts -  1/4 cup , can replace it with peas also.

Tamarind juice-1/4 cup

Salt-2 to 3 teaspoons( vary it according to tour taste)

Tampering ,

Oil-1/2 a cup

Mustard seeds-1/4 teaspoon

Cumin seeds-1/4 teaspoon

Asafoetida- a pinch

Urad daal-1 teaspoon

Curry leaves-4

Heat oil In a  pan.Add mustard seeds ,as they sizzle,add cumin seeds.Turn heat off add curry leaves,hing and urad daal to it.Let the urad daal turn golden brown.

Rinse rice and add  2 cups of water for a cup of raw rice .Rinse toor daal and add water ,till the daal 

immerses in it.Add the cut vegetables and peanuts to it.Pressure cook it for 3 whistles.

In a heated pan take the tamarind juice and as it starts to boil add the masala  powder prepared ( about 2 to 3 tbsps) and the add the toor daal with veggies and then the rice with a cup of water.Add red chilli powder according to taste.

Cook for sometime,till it starts boiling and then add salt to it.Let it boil for a few seconds.

Add tampering at last .Do not  stir in the tampering .Garnish with coriander leaves.

Puliogare

Travelling for vegetarians?,can't eat outside food,hmm a very big hassle.With all the travelling preparations you even have to prepare food to eat.The first thing that comes to my mind is puliogare,make it a little less spicy and its perfect for the kids.Any body would love this because its simple to make ,easy to pack.Savory dish for the potlucks too .The moment anybody will taste this ,will make it again and again.

ingredients for masala powder ,
Coriander seeds-1 teaspoon
Jeera or cumin seeds-1 teaspoon
White sesame seeds-1 teaspoon
Tamarind-1 teaspoon( the pic below shows less tamarind,but I have used a lump of it)
Channa daal-1 teaspoon
Dry red chillies-2 to 3( vary it if required more spice ,add more red chillies).
Dry coconut - 1teaspoon (grated)
Asafoetida-1/4 teaspoon

1. Roast all the ingredients in a pan and grind it into fine powder.Store it in a air tight jar.
2. cook rice  and keep it ready.1 cup of rice (cooked)
3. Take  a teaspoon of oil in a pan,add mustard seeds as they sizzle add,jeera,curry leaves (4) and a pinch of asafoetida.Add a few peanuts.
4. Add the spice powder just prepared to the tampering.Now add the rice and 1/2 a teaspoon of salt to it.
5. Transfer it to bowl to serve.

Mint rice

Mint rice or pudina rice. As the name suggests ,it is made with mint leaves as the main ingredient in it.I have used coconut (grated) also to it ,to give it a nice flavor .Since this doesn't include onions or garlic ,i make it during festivals also.
Ingredients
Cooked rice- 1 cup (I use sona masoori rice)
Mint leaves - 8 strands of leaves (separated from the stems and chopped).
coconut (grated)- 1/4 cup(or a little  lesser than 1/4 cup).
curry leaves -2
cooking oil- 3 teaspoons
green chillies -1 or 2 (long slit)
cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon.
mustard seeds - 1teaspoon
asafoetida- a pinch
salt- 1 teaspoon.

Heat oil in a pan ,add the mustard seeds ,they start spluttering,slowly add jeera or cumin seeds to it and then add the green chillies.Add asafoetida to it,then the curry leaves,and at last the chopped mint leaves.I f you want it to store this rice  for a full day add the grated coconut to it in the tampering itself,or you can mix it with the rice at the end.I usually add it in the beginning itself.Add the cooked rice and salt to it.Remove from heat and mix it well.Transfer it to a bowl and serve hot.

Jeera rice or cumin rice

Jeera rice or cumin fried rice .It goes well with all the curries.,specially daal.I just love to have have jeera rice with daal.Jeera is normally used in all of the tamperings in south Indian curries.
Usually what i used to do is make rice and then add it to the mix which i prepare for this cumin rice,i saw it on the internet to do it the other way,i mean do the tampering mix for this recipe and then add it to the raw rice, add salt and water and then cook it.I tried this and it came out to be very tasty .I could actually smell the aroma of the jeera,in the whole rice ,not just here and there.7

ingredients for Jeera rice,
Uncooked basmathi  rice -1 cup
Jeera-2 teaspoons
Chopped coriander-a few(6 to 7 strands of coriander)
Salt-1 teaspoon

1. In a pan take 1 tbsp of oil,(you can add ghee instead of oil)as you start heating it add jeera to it .When jeera  starts spluttering ,turn off the heat.Take the pan out of the stove and then add the coriander leaves to it.
2. In  a bowl rinse the uncooked  rice in water and then add 1 cup of water to it 
3. Add the tampering you just prepared .Mix salt into it.cook until the rice is cooked.
4. If you are cooking in a pressure cooker,cook it until 3 whistles.Add 1 1/4 cup of water for 1 cup of uncooked basmathi  rice.

dill fried rice

Dill fried rice
Dill fried rice is usually made in karnataka with dill leaves and moth whole.Its not like the usual fried rice where you prepare the rice and then add it to the seasoned tampering.This can be done either with the basmathi rice or the usual sona masoori rice

ingredients for the dill fried rice
Uncooked  rice-1 cup ( preferably sona masoori rice)
fresh dill leaves -1 cup ( washed and measured to 1 cup and then chopped)
Moong Whole-a few or 1 tbsp
green chillies -2(long slitted)
salt-1 teaspoon. ( vary according to taste)

tempering for the rice
oil-4 teaspoons
mustard seeds-1 teaspoon
urad dal-1 teaspoon
asafoetida-a pinch
curry leaves-2-3

In a pan take the oil,add mustard seeds,after they splutter add the urad daal,asafoetida,curry leaves,green chillies and finally the chopped dill leaves.
In a bowl take the rice, rinse in water and soak it in water (1 1/4 cup  of water for basmathi rice and 2 cups of water for sona masoori rice)add the tempering to it and salt .
Now you add 1 tbsp of moong whole and pressure cook it untill 3 whistles.