Moongfali Chawal - मूंगफली चावल (Peanut Rice) for Blog Hop

Hello Friends,


Another week of Blog Hop, love it, get to try different blogs and different recipes. Please check out what all this is about.

This week, I am paired with Priya Vassu of Enveetu Kitchen. A wonderful blogger and a great space she has. As, I always say, when I cook from someone's blog, I like to try their specialties, so, I picked a south Indian variety of rice preparation. I loved such mixed and quick rice preparations.

We enjoyed it and hope you do too !!!

Moongfali Chawal - मूंगफली चावल (Peanut Rice)

Ingredients
Rice - 2 cups, cooked
Peanuts - 1.5 cup, skinned and roasted (I used pre-roasted and lightly salted peanuts)

Grated Coconut - 1/4 Cup

Sesame seeds - 2 tbsp (you can increase the quantity or omit based on your preference)
Dry Red Chilies - 8-10

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp, just for color
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp
For Seasoning
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Gram Dal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves a few - I skipped this as I didn't have any.

Preparation

• Cook rice such  that the rice grains are nice and fluffy.
• Powder roasted peanuts coarsely.
• Take 1 tsp oil in a non stick pan.
• Roast coconut and red chilies and powder them.
• Dry roast sesame seeds. Now, original recipe asked to powder it. But, I preferred not to, so, it is your preference.
• Heat rest of the oil in a pan. 
• Add seasoning and let it splutter.
• Now, add rice, turmeric powder and all dry powders along with salt.
• Mix well and take it off the heat.

Serving
Serve it with some pickle or rasam/dahi as you prefer.

Please do check what other blog hoppers are cooking.

That's all for now. Take care till next post.

Nariyal Ki Khichdi - नारियल की खिचड़ी (Coconut Rice and Lentil Preparation) from Deepthi

Hello Friends,

Today, I am here with a wonderful new dish that I had never tried and loved making and eating it both. It is called Nariyal Ki Khichdi - नारियल की खिचड़ी (Coconut Rice and Lentil Preparation). I saw it in Deepthi's blog and wanted to try it out right away.

If you like the taste and flavor of coconut milk and shredded coconut, I can guarantee that you will love this recipe. It is a one pot meal if you add some veggies to it as well. I guess, this was the first time and next time I will experiment more with it. I cooked khichdi in rice cooker and didn't like the dry version much, but I am thinking cooking it in regular cooked and adding more liquid should do the trick, so that is for next time :)


I served it with  Zucchini Mor Kuzhambu - Zuchhini की कढ़ी (Zucchini in yogurt gravy) and it was a match made in heaven :)

Please click on the recipe link to check the wonderful recipe and mouth watering pic.

his goes to Bookmarked Recipes - Every Tuesday (Volume 55) event of Aipi and Mine.

Friends, a small request, PLEASE READ RULES of this bookmarked event properly. We have changed rules a bit and please go through them. From now on, re-writing someone's recipe is not allowed and only a link needs to be posted in your post with all the modifications or tweaks you made to the recipe. Or if it is a recipe from book or magazine, please scan and post the recipe page, but don't write the real recipe. We are not allowing recipes from memories or some friend anymore as this is a "bookmarked" recipe event. Please post your entries with respect to these rules.

Thats' all for now. Take care till next post.

Palak Tulsi Chawal - पालक तुलसी चावल (Spinach and Basil Rice)

Hello Friends,

Here is a recipe, with a thought of just mixing few greens together with rice. I had frozen spinach at home and home grown basil leaves (which were ready to wilt, if not used soon). So, this is what I thought of making. Almost a one-pot meal with some raita.

Palak Tulsi Chawal - पालक तुलसी चावल (Spinach and Basil Rice)

Ingredients

Cooked White Rice - 2 cups

Palak (Spinach) - 2 cups, I used baby spinach as it is, feel free to chop them to desired size.

Meetha Tulsi (Basil) - 1.5 cups, feel free to adjust the quantity.

Onion - 1 cup, sliced or chopped, as you prefer

Tomatio - 1/4 cup, finely chopped

Green Chilies - 2, finely chopped (remember that basil is also spicy, somewhat)

Ginger - 1 tbsp, finely grated or ground

Garlic - 1 tbsp, finely chopped or grated or ground

Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

Cumin Powder - 1 tsp

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Salt - as per taste

Preparation

• Take a non-stick pan and heat oil in it.
• Add mustard and cumin seeds and let them splutter.
• Add green chilies, onion, ginger and garlic and let them fry till onions turn translucent.
• Add tomatoes and all spices and fry for 2 more min.
• Now, add both spinach, basil and salt and cook covered till spinach wilts down.
• Fry uncovered for 2 more min.
• Add rice, mix everything well and fry for 2 more min before removing from heat.

Serving

Serve it warm with some raita or plain yogurt.

This goes to Veggie/Fruit A Month - Spinach event guest hosted by Reshmi and started by me.

That's all for now. Take care till next post.

Microwave Easy Cooking - Plain Rice

Hello Friends,


I want to thank Srivalli for even starting an event like MEC and letting me host MEC - Rice, because all I used to use my microwave was to heat up stuff and period, nothing more.


If you haven't already send your entries, then hurry up and send as the event ends on 31st march 2011.

But, because of her, I have started to at least think about various other options. This is one recipe which a friend of mine taught me when I was living a married but single life in Pittsburgh and I was surprised when she made rice this way.


Microwave Easy Cooking - Plain Rice

Ingredients
Rice - 1 cup, I used Sona Masoori type
Water - 2 cups (Varies depending on which brand or variety of rice you are using, so change this accordingly)
Preparation

• Wash rice properly.
• Add water and rice in a microwave safe bowl, double the size of the quantity of rice you are adding. Remember water will boil and rice will puff up, so it needs all that extra space.
• Keep the lid on the bowl, but not tighly as it needs to let out the steam.
• Cook it on high for 15-20 minutes, depending on your rice variety and how well you want it to be done. For my microwave, about 17 min. is the time.
• Let the bowl cool down a little (about 3-5 min.) before handling it and slowly puff the rice with fork, if you want the grains intact.
• Wasn't that easy? :)

Serving
Serve it with any gravy or dry curry or dal or podi/oil or chutney or practically anything you eat rice with... lol


That's all for now. Take care till next post.

Bajre Ki Namkeen Khichdi - Millet and Yellow Split Moong Beans Savory Porridge

Hello friends,


I feel bad that I haven't been posting lot of authentic Rajasthani Recipes. So, to ease my guilt, here is one of the recipes of Rajasthan which are mainly eaten in winter months as this keeps your body warm and thus helps you fight the cold winters of desert area.

Today, I am giving namkeen khichdi (savory version) of it and soon will post the sweeter version as well.

Bajre Ki Namkeen Khichdi - बाजरे की नमकीन खिचड़ी (Millet and Yellow Split Moong Beans Savory Porridge)

Ingredients

Bajra (Whole Millet) - 1 cup, washed

Rice - 1/4 cup, washed

Moong Dal (Split Yellow Moong Beans) - 1/4 cup, washed
Peas and Carrots - mixed 1/2 cup, carrots finely chopped

Jeera (Cumin Seeds) - 1 tsp

Heeng (Asafoetida) - 1-2 pinches
Laung (Cloves) - 4 to 5
Badi Ilaichi (Black Cardamom) - 2
Dalchini (Cinnamon Stick) - 1 inch piece
Haldi (Turmeric Powder) - 1 tsp
Hari Mirch (Green Chilies) - 4 small ones, finely chopped (adjust per your taste)
Adrakh (Ginger) - 1 inch piece, minced or finaly sliced (as you may like)

Ghee (Clarified Butter) - 2 tbsps
Oil - 1tbsp

Salt - as per taste

Preparation

• Soak bajra in water for an hour and then air dry it (spread it on a cloth and let it air dry) for another hour or so. Then coarsely grind it and remove all the dust and hull from bajra.
• Take a cooker and add oil to it.
• Once it is hot, add jeera and heeng and let jeera splutter.
• Add cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and after 15 seconds, add green chilies and ginger till it is friend.
• Add peas and carrots and let them fry for 2 min.
• Add bajra, rice, moong dal, salt and water and close the lid.
• Cook it till 4-5 whistles (if you do not have whistles, cook for about 20-25 min.)
• Switch off the heat and once the steam is all released, mix it well and serve.

Serving

This is just served as is with a dollop of ghee on top. You can serve it some hot kadhi.

I am sending this to my own MLLA # 30 which was started by Susan.

That's all for now. Take care till next post.

Thai Sticky Rice with Mango

Hello friends,


Eid Mubarak to all my blogger friends and readers.


This is hands-down my favorite Thai dessert. I always wanted to try it out. The other day, I had kept some mango chopped in  a bowl to eat just like that and N comes and says, hey, why not make sticky rice with mango. I am like ok, yes, why not?


If any of you have tried it before, will surely agree that this is one lip-smacking, mouth watering dessert and usually when we go to Thai restaurant, we fight upon who will eat it first and fast and more :)


So, without further delay, here is the super yummy recipe. My rice became little runny, never-the-less, tasted great. Please keep an eye on how much water you add. Cook the rice per package's instructions.


Thai Sticky Rice with Mango

Ingredients
Thai Sticky Rice - 1 cup (you will get it in any Oriental shops)
Unsweetened Coconut Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup (increase or decrease based on how sweet you would like your rice to be)
Sesame Seeds - 1 tbsp
Ripe Mango - 2, finely sliced or chopped.
Preparation

• Cook rice per package's instructions and keep it aside.
• Lightly dry roast sesame seeds and keep them aside.
• Chop or slice mangoes to desired shape and keep them aside.
• Now, take a heavy bottomed pan and add coconut milk to it
• Let it simmer mixing continuously on low heat. You don't want to heat it at high flame otherwise the milk will curdle.
• Once the coconut milk has got one boil, add sugar to it and let it melt all.
• Now, add 3/4 of this coconut milk mix into the rice bowl/pot and let the rice sit and absorb all the milk. Don't let the mix cool down all the way.
• Now, take one portion of this absorbed rice in a serving plate (yes, plate is better than a bowl), sprinkle it with little of the coconut milk mix kept aside, sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds and then top it with sliced/chopped mango (some people like mango on top some like it on the side, so go with your liking).

Serving
Serve it as a perfect ending to any meal (not just Thai). This dessert is served hot or else the sticky rice will become too hard due to all the extra starch it has.


I am sending this to Akheela's Festive Rice event.





Also, linking it to Vegetarian Foodie Fridays # 17.

That's all for now. Take care till next post.

Uppudu Pindi and a Thank You Note from Kiran and Happy Teej

Hello friends,


Happy Teej to all my fellow married Indian Ladies. For my readers who do not know what it is, here you go. This is Teej in Jaipur (Courtesy info: Wikipedia).


Teej is the festival of swings. It marks the advent of the monsoon month of Shravan (August). The monsoon rains fall on the parched land and the pleasing scent of the wet soil rises into the air. Swings are hung from trees and women dressed in green clothes sing songs in celebration of the advent of the monsoon. This festival is dedicated to the Goddess Parvati, commemorating her union with Lord Shiva. Goddess Parvati is worshipped by seekers of conjugal bliss and happiness. An elaborate procession is taken out in Jaipur for two consecutive days on the festive occasion which is watched by people in large numbers. The Teej idol is covered with a canopy whereas the Gangaur idol is open.


Thank to all of you who have participated in Bookmarked Recipes - Every Tuesday event of yesterday. Please follow the link to check all the participating mouth watering recipes.


Here is a very easy, quick and favorite dinner in my mom's family. It is called "Uppudu Pindi". If you are from Andhra, you may have a clue on what this is. This is a very unusual dish, if you haven't heard about it before.


I love it, because it is easy to prepare and has both rice and dal in it. And, can be simply eaten with plain yogurt or any spicy chutney or gravy curry.


Uppudu Pindi (Rice and Lentil Savory porridge)

Ingredients
Idli Rava (It is coarsely ground rice grains) - 1 cup
Moong Dal (Split Green Gram) - 1/4 cup, washed and drained
Fresh Shredded Coconut - 1/4 to 1/2 cup (per your liking) - I used frozen
Water - 3 cups
Oil - 2 tbsp
Urad Dal (Split Black Gram) - 1 tbsp
Jeera (Cumin Seeds) - 1 tsp
Rai (Mustard Seeds) - 1 tsp
Sabut Lal Mirch (Dry Red Chili) - 3 broken in pieces
Heeng (Asefoetida) - one pinch
Salt - as per taste
Preparation

• Take a deep bottomed vessel, add oil to it.
• Once oil is hot, add urad dal, rai, jeera, lal mirch.
• Once the seeds are spluttering and urad dal is golden brown, add water, coconut and moong dal to it and let the water come to boil.
• Once the water is boiling properly, add idli rava slowly while stirring it continuously. Stir it nicely and cover and cook on the lowest heat setting for about 4-5 min. You will see that it will be nice smooth mass like upma or you will see that the grains are cooked. But, they will not be as separated as upma, just soft and smooth. 
• Turn off the heat and let it be there for at least 2-3 more min. before serving as it will be very very hot :)

Serving
We usually make it for dinner. And, the best serving is with plain yogurt and some spicy chutney. Remember, that we have not added any spices to it other than those red chilies in tempering.


I am sharing a sweet "Thank You" note from Kiran of Sumadhura, who posted her Cooking With Whole Foods: Barley roundup. Please do visit the roundup, you will be amazed at how much you can do with Barley. Thank you so much Kiran for sharing this with me.

Sending this recipe to MLLA # 26 hosted by Briciole and started by Susan.

That's all for now. Take care till next post.

Sweet Sesame Rice - Tried and Tasted from Veg Inspirations

Hello friends,


This recipe is from Usha's blog Veg Inspiration, which is a blog featured in Tried and Tasted event hosted by Saveur, which was originally started by Zlamushka and and now run by Lakshmi.


I have been following Usha's blog for a while now, I must say I have visited her blog even before I have started blogging. And, once I started blogging and was going through her blog, I had bookmarked quite a few recipes of hers. I will try to prepare as many as I can for this event, but if not, I will surely prepare them in due time.


The first one in the series is, Sweet Sesame Rice. I am sure you all know by now that I have a big sweet tooth, so I started by a sweet dish. I have used the recipe word-by-word, so I am not going to repost it here. Please follow the link to check her authentic recipe. And, while you are there, do look for your favorite recipe from a collection of mouth watering recipes she has and I am sure you will fall in love with the blog like me.

That's all for now. Take care till next post.

Ankurit Beejon Ki Khichdi - अंकुरित बीजों की खिचड़ी (Mixed Spicy rice with Sprouts)

Hello friends,


Here is a healthy recipe. We, as a family love khichdi, but this is the first time I tried using sprouted seeds, a combination of few of them and guess what, it was super yummy !!! So, without further delay, here is the recipe.


Ankurit Beejon Ki Khichdi - अंकुरित बीजों की खिचड़ी (Mixed Spicy rice with Sprouts)

Ingredients
Hara Matar (Dry Green Peas) - 1/4 cup, washed, soaked and sprouted
Peela Matar (Dry Yellow Peas) - 1/4 cup, washed, soaked and sprouted
Kala Chana (Black Chick Peas) - 1/4 cup, washed, soaked and sprouted
Lobia Dal (Black Eyed Peas) - 1/4 cup, washed, soaked and sprouted
Hara Moong (Whole Green Moong) - 1/4 cup, washed, soaked and sprouted
Rice - 1.5 cups, washed and drained
Onion - 1 cup
Tomato - 1 cup
Adrakh (Ginger) - 1 inch piece, grated

Oil - 1 tbsp

Ghee - 1-2 tbsp, per your liking

Water - 8 cups

Masala Powders
Lal Mirch (Red Chili) Powder - 1 tsp
Haldi (Turmeric Powder) - 1 tsp
Dhaniya (Coriander) Powder  - 1 tsp
Jeera (Cumin) Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Whole Masalas
Laung (Clove) - 4-5 
Dalchini (Cinnamon) - 1 inch piece
Badi Ilaichi (Black Cardamom) - 2
Tej Patta (Dry Bay Leaves) - 2
Paanch Fodan (mix of 5 seeds) - 1 tsp (it is a mix of saunf, jeera, kala jeera, methi and rai)
Preparation

• Take a cooker on stove and add oil to it.
• Add paanch fodan, all whole masalas and let the seeds splutter and a nice aroma come from it.
• Add onion, ginger and let them fry till onion is translucent.
• Add all  masala powders and let it fry for a minute.
• Add tomatoes and fry for another 2 min.
• Add all sprouts and rice, mix and fry for another 2 min.
• Add water and let it cook for about 20 min. (change the time based on how you like the consistency of your khichdi/rice)
• Remove the lid off, add ghee, mix well and cover the lid for 5 min. before serving it.

Serving
Serve this for lunch or dinner alike with a small bowl of dahi (yogurt), your favorite spicy pickle and some crunchy-munchy papad/chips.


Sending this recipe and the following to Let's Sprout event of Priya, MLLA # 25 event of Siri started by Susan and Iftar Moments: Hijri 1431 event of Ayeesha.

 


Ankurit Moong ki Tikki - अंकुरित मूंग की टिक्की (Sprouted Moong Patties)





Sprouted Moong (Green Gram) Salad





That's all for now. Take care till the next post.

Pesto Vegetable Rice - Inspired from Champa

Hello Friends,


I am sure some of you did go through a post on Champa's blog which was how she prepared rice by making her own pesto sauce. When I saw the pic and read the recipe, it was like this force, which was telling me that I had to make it. Now, I did not have everything she mentioned, but here is my own version of her rice. I simply love pesto sauce, now who doesn't, ok, I am sure there are some who don't, but still, come on, pesto with basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, mmm...mmm...mmm. I can eat pasta salad or simple pasta with pesto, any time for any meal. Now, to the recipe :)


Pesto Vegetables Rice





Ingredients
Cooked and Cooled Rice - 2 cups (I used leftover rice from afternoon)
Mixed Veggies - 1 cup, cooked as you like (I used a combo of corn, carrot and peas)
Pesto Sauce - 4 tbsp (I used store bought, but you can prepare any way you like it)
Onion - 1/2 cup, finely sliced
Garlic - 5 big cloves, minced
Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Olive Oil - 1 tsp
Preparation

• Cook and cool rice
• Boil all veggies with enough salt for then.
• Take a wide pan and add oil
• Once oil is hot, add fennel seeds and let nice aroma come from it.
• Add onion, garlic and salt (only for onion and garlic) to it and let it fry till golden brown. Don't make them mushy, let onions have a crunch. 
• Add all veggies and pesto sauce to it and let veggies coat with sauce and let it fry for 2-3 minutes.
• Now, mix rice to it and turn off the heat.

Serving
We had it for dinner. But, this is a great side dish when you are entertaining people or even as a lunch/dinner.


I am sending this to Side Dish Showdown: Anything Goes event hosted by Cinnamon Girl.


That's all for now. Take care, till next post.