Simple fried rice

This is a quick, kids friendly fried rice and a perfect lunch box item.

Ingredients

rice - 1 cup

veggies - cabbage, carrot, beans - 1cups

onion -1

garlic - 3 pods

spring onion green few

cashews - 10

pepper - 2 tsp

salt

• Cook rice separately. You can use basmathi rice which has a nice flavour. Since I ran out of it, I used the ordinary raw rice.
• In a pan, add a little ghee and roast the cashews and set aside.
• Add a tbsp of butter, now saute the garlic and onion well.
• Now add all the vegetables and stir fry it.
• Add pepper powder and salt.
• When it cools down, add the cooked rice and mix it well.
• Sprinkle with spring onions and garnish it with cashews.
• Kids like this when served with ketchup. Simple raitha would be perfect too!

I send this picture to Magnificent click contest hosted by Gayathri of justurs blog.

Tomato raitha

Ingredients

To grind

Tomatoes - 3

Green chilli - 3

coconut 2 tbsp

mustard little less than 1/4 tsp

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List 2

curd - 2 tbsp

curry leaves

coriander leaves

asafoetida

salt

Grind all the items in "To grind" list and mix it with curd. Add salt as required. Heat a tbsp of oil, splutter some mustard seeds and add asafoetida and garnish with curry leaves and coriander leaves. We have it with chappathi,  or it goes well with any type of spicy kootu.

I send this entry to Sanghi's "Fall in love (FIL) - tomato" event

Special Vegetable biriyani

Nostalgic! This dish is dedicated to my dear brother who lives in Australia now. This vegetable biriyani is his favorite. We do this specially on sundays. Getting up late, reading paper with coffee, watching TV, having nice oil bath.. we will all be hungry for scrumptious biriyani that my mom used to prepare. When she prepares this biriyani, my bro would not like to eat anything after that as he wants that taste to linger in for sometime. I learnt this recipe from my mom. He has already tasted when I prepared and gave me 5* comments for this. Now, It has been 2 years
since I met him, thought would pass it on to him through this wonderful event "Just for you". So here the recipe goes..
Basmathi rice - 2 cups
Diced vegetables - (carrot, beans, cauliflower, turnip, peas, potato) - 2 cups
onion - 1
To grind
mint leaves - 15 leaves
garlic pod - 4
ginger - 1 inch piece
green chillies - 4
cardomon - 3
cloves - 4
fennel seeds - 2 tbsp
cinnamon - 2 inch piece
cashew nuts - 3
poppy seeds - 1 tbsp
coconut - 1 tbsp
Seasoning
bread slices - 2
salt

• Wash and soak basmathi rice in water for 20 mins.
• Wash the mint leaves and saute it in the pan, until the raw smell goes and keep it aside.
• In the same pan, add 3tbsp of oil and when it is hot, saute the onions.
• Then add all the vegetables and saute it well.
• Now add all the ingredients to grind and make it a smooth paste.
• Add the grounded paste to the cooked vegetables and cook it in open for 4 mins until the water evaporates.
• Now add the soaked rice to the cooked vegetables and spices and add 4 cups of water to it.
• Add required amount of salt.
• Squeeze in a tbsp of lemon juice so that the rice does not stick together and cook it for about 20 mins until the rice is cooked.
• Meanwhile, cut the bread into cubes and shallow fry it in ghee. Or you can even toast the entire slice in a pan adding little ghee until crisp and then cut it into cubes and add it to the cooked rice. It really tastes good.
• Serve it with onion tomato raitha.

This is an entry to "Justforyou" event.

Gobi Paratha and an Award!!

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

3 cups Whole Wheat Flour

Warm Water

Salt

For the Filling:

2 cups Cauliflower Florets

1 Onion

2 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp Jeera

1 tsp cumin and coriander powder

1 tsp any garam masala powder (I used MTR multipurpose curry powder)

½ tsp Turmeric Powder

Fresh Coriander Leaves

Salt

Dough and filling 

• Knead the flour, by adding warm water and salt and make a pliable dough. Cover it and keep it aside for an hour.
• Now, for the filling grate the cauliflower florets and chop the onions finely.
• In a pan, pour a tsp of oil, when it is hot, add jeera.
• When jeera turns brown add onion and saute it well till it is soft.
• Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander and cumin powder and saute well.
• You will get nice flavour, when you use green chillies. But to you serve it for kids, it avoid using that and substitute it with red chilli powder.
• Now add grated gobi and saute it well, until they are cooked.
• Add salt and fresh coriander and saute it until all the water evaporates and filling is dry.

Gobi Paratha

• Knead the dough well and make equal medium sized balls.
• Roll the dough to thick roti.
• Now place about a tbsp of filling in the middle and close it by bringing the other edges in the middle and make the stuffed ball.
• Dust with the flour and roll it into thick roti's using rolling pin.
• Place it in hot tawa and cook it on both the sides until golden brown.
• Serve it hot with raitha and pickle.

Whenever I do stuffed parata's, I prefer to serve it with raitha and pickle, so that you get the taste if the stuffed parathas to the fullest.

Onion tomato raitha

Thick curd - 1 cup

Onion - 1/2

tomato - 1

green chillies

coriander and curry leaves

salt

Chop onions and tomatoes and chillies finely. Add it to thick curd and add salt. Garnish it with fresh coriander and curry leaves.

This Gobi paratha with onion/tomato raitha and pickle goes to Asvadha's Made for each other event.

I also send this to JFI - Cauliflower hosted by Indira's Mahanadhi blog

Vidhya of Appetizing recipes has passed on this wonderful award to me! This is my first award! Thank you very much Vidhya! 

Carrot Kheer

Ingredients
Baby carrots - 20 or regular fresh carrots - 4 big ones
Milk - 2 cups
sugar - 3 cups
ghee roasted cashews - 10
Cardamon - 6

• Pressure cook baby carrots, along with that add 2 or 3 cardamons, so that as the raw smell goes, the cardamon gives nice aroma to it.
• Meanwhile boil milk adding sugar to it. Boil it so that I gets to a thick consistency.
• When the carrots are cooked and cools down, add cardamon to it and grind it just once.
• Take this out and add it to the boiling milk and sugar. Let it boil for couple of minutes and turn it off.
• Garnish it with cashews.
  
• Serve it hot or cold.

Dal Makhani - No onion no garlic gravy

Many of us do not eat onion and garlic on auspicious days and few other days too. Devotees of Raghavendra swamy mostly do not eat onion/garlic on Thursdays. So during those days, when I make chappathi, I used to make this gravy for chappathi.

Ingredients:

Masoor dhal - 2 cups

Tomatoes - 2

Tomato paste - 1 tbsp (optional)

Jeera - 1 tbsp

Ginger - 1 small size

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Green chillies - 2

kasthoori methi - 1tsp

cream or curd - 1 tbsp

milk - 1/2 cup

Cook the masoor dhal, by adding 4 cups of water and turmeric and keep it aside. You need not soak the masoor dhal. Now, in a pan add oil, little butter (optional) when it is hot add jeera, then add the grated ginger. Add the finely chopped tomatoes and when it cooks add the tomato paste also. Now add red chilli powder, green chillies and kasthoori methi leaves. Nicely saute it. Then add cook dal and nicely bring it to boil. Now simmer the stove and add curd and then add milk. Add salt accordingly and let it boil for 5 mins. Serve it hot with chappathi or rice!

This entry goes to " Lentils mela event"  hosted by Ashwini.

Badam milk

Almonds - 20

Milk 2 cups

Sugar 2 tbsp

Saffron strands few (soaked in milk)

Cardamom 6 crushed or cardamon powder 1 tsp

Soak almonds in water for 5 or 6 hrs, remove the skin and grind it to a smooth paste adding milk. you can add the sugar along with that. Soak saffron strands in milk for few mins. Mix the grounded paste and the saffron mix along with the milk and stir well. Add cardamon powder and mix it well. Serve it hot or cold.

I send this entry to JZ's @ Tasty treat's Lets Go Nuts: Almonds

Mysore pak sweet

This is one of my favorite sweet. It is one of the South Indian delicacy and very famous in my place Coimbatore. I decided to prepare it myself for my birthday! But, the first time I did, it was a disaster. It was like halwa, sugar was less etc; I did not give up though. I tried it all over again the next day(today) and it came out really well. 

Ingredients

Besan/gram flour - 1 cup

sugar - 1 1/2 cup

ghee - 1 1/2 cup

water 1/4 cup

Method:

First, roast the flour with 3 tsp of ghee until the raw smell goes off.

Now add the sugar, then add water and stir until the sugar melts completely.

Add 2 tsps of ghee in it now, so that when you add besan, the flour does not stick.

Make sure, the stove is in slow. Now add the flour as you keep stirring.

Keep stirring and add ghee at regular intervals. The more ghee you add, tastier will be the sweet, but we have to watch our weight too..So, take a call.. 

When the mixture loses water and becomes semi solid, forming bubbles, take it out and spread it on a plate that is coated with ghee.

When it cools down make pieces and enjoy!

Tips:(I learnt from the mistakes that I did previously)

1. Always use the heavy bottomed pan. I would say, non-stick is not the preferred 

one. Use hard bottomed aluminium ones or you can even use the pressure pan.

2. Dry roast the flour with little ghee, until the raw smell goes off completely.

3. When you add, water to melt the sugar, do not use more water. be careful in this step, we do not want to make sugar syrup.

4. Use fresh melted ghee and keep it ready.

5. Keep all the ingredients ready and keep on stiring and take it out of the flame when it is done at the right time.

This entry goes to "Just for you" event.

Peas Pulav

This is a very simple, easy to make pulav. It goes well with any vegetable gravy or kurma or just simple raitha.
Ingredients
Basmathi rice - 1cup
Peas - 1cup
onion - 1
green chillies - 2
jeera - 1 tsp
pepper - 1 tsp
cloves - 2
cinnamon - 2 pieces
cashew nuts- 10 nos
milk - 1 cup
Clean and soak the basmathi rice in water for 20 mins. Roast the cashew nuts in little ghee and set it aside. Heat oil in a pan, when it is hot, add jeera, cloves, cinnamon and saute. Then add onion and saute till golden brown. Then add green chillies, pepper powder and green peas and saute it for couple of mins. Now transfer this contents to the cooker. Then add the soaked rice and add 1 cup of water and 1 cup of milk. Add salt as required. When the rice is cooked, take it out and garnish it with the cashew nuts. Yummy pulav is ready!

Methi Paratha

Ingredients

Wheat flour

Fresh methi leaves - 2 bunches

Grated ginger and garlic 

Dhaniya - 1 tbsp

red chillies - 2

jeera - 1 tsp

salt

• 
  

• Wash and clean methi leaves.
• Make a coarse powder of Dhaniya, red chillies and jeera
• Shift wheat flour, methi leaves, ginger garlic, coarse powder, salt. 
• Add warm water and make a soft dough.
• Let the dough sit for an hour.
• Now roll the dough to rotis and cook it on both the sides using the tawa.
• Serve it with any side dish or simple dal or raitha/pickle.