Green vegetable pulav

Vegetable Pulav is every one's favourite dish. My kids love it! Its a best way to get them to eat few veggis if they are fussy eaters. Its easy to make & tasty too....

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 2cups
Corriander Leaves - 1 bunch
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
Green chillies - 6no
Coconut - 2 tbspns
Onion - 2
Oil - 2 tbspns
Ghee - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 1" piece
Cloves - 4
Bayleaf - 1
Elaichi - 1
Green Beans, Carrot, Potato, Cauliflower, Peas - all together - 2 cups.

Method:

1. Chop all vegetables into 1" long pieces. Slice the onions & set aside.

2. Wash basmati rice & keep ready.

3. Grind together - Corriander leaves, green chillies & coconut to a fine paste.

4. In a pan add oil & ghee, then add the whole spices - Cinnamon, cloves, bayleaf & elaichi.

5. Add the sliced onions & ginger-garlic paste, & saute for 2-3 minutes. Then add the vegetables & fry all for 5 minutes.

6. Now add the ground green masala & fry till the raw smell goes off.

7. Now add the washed rice & mix all together for about 5-7n minutes, till its all blended well. Add required salt.

8. Add 4 & 1/4 cups of water in a rice cooker & then trasfer these ingredients from the pan into it. Mix all well & turn on the rice cooker, till done.

Very soon your home will be filled with the aroma of pulav & you'll be ready to serve a mouthwatering dish..... Serve hot !!

Cranberry Thokku (Pickle)

Cranberries - Why only use it in desserts.. use it to make a pickle too! When, my friend Deepa said this, i said, pickles from Cranberries? Interesting right??? Well, finally i did muster courage to try.. & result was great recipe. Thanks Deepa!!

Ingredients:

Cranberries - 1 pack (I used 12 oz pack)

Oil - 4 tbspns

Mustard seeds - 1 + 1 tsp

Methi Seeds - 1 tsp

Hing - 1/4 tsp

Chili Powder - 2 tsps

Turmeic powder- 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Method:

1. Wash cranberries in a collander & set aside to dry off.

2. In a pan, dry fry 1 tsp of mustard & methi seeds & powder coarsely.

3. Add oil to pan & 1 tsp Mustard seeds & hing. Let it splutter, then add the washed cranberries & stir well.

4. It will mash up & come together in few minutes.. Then add the chili, turmeric & salt & mix well.

5. It will be all mashed & come well together, now add the coarsely powder mustard & methi mixture & stir in well for 2-3 minutes. Your Cranberry Thokku is ready!!

Its a little bit on the sour side...so increase the spice level accordingly. But tastes good, something different !! Your Cranberry Thokku is ready.

Beans & Potato Udad Methi Curry

This is a new recipe that i just learnt this past weekend from my friend's mom. It tastes great & goes well with chappathis. My very first try & it was a great hit at my place !

Ingredients:

Beans - 1/4 pound

Potato - 2 no

Coconut - 6 tbspns

Red Chillies - 4

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp

Tamarind - A small piece

Udad Dhal - 1 tbspn

Methi Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 2 tsps

Mustard - 1/4 tsp

Curry Leaves - Few

Salt

Method:

1. Cut the beans into 1" long pieces & potato into medium size cubes. Put the veggies in a pan. Add little salt & water. Cover & cook till 90% done.

2. Fry the red chillies in a drop of oil. Grind them with coconut, tamarind & turmeric powder to a fine paste.

3. Roast udad dhal & methi in a pan without oil. Just till udad dhal turns slightly reddish in colour.Now add this to the ground coconut mixture & grind again till all mixes well.

4. Add the ground masala to the cooked veggies, add more salt as required & bring to a boil.

5. Season with mustard seeds & curry leaves.

Serve hot. Goes well with chappathis.

Channa Sundal

Garbanzo Beans ( English),Kabuli Channa (Hindi), Konda Kadalai (Tamil) is a great bean & very nutritious. You can make quite a few things out of this & heres my first recipe....

Ingredients:

Garbanzo Beans - 1 cup

Oil - 2tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Jeera seeds - 1/4 tsp

G. Chillies - 3no

Curry Leaves - few

Coconut - 2 tbspns

Hing - little

Salt - to taste

Method:

1. Soak the bean over night. Pressure cook for 1-2 whistles with just enough water for it to cook in.

2. In a pan add oil, mustard, jeera & when it splutters, add the hing, G.chillies & curry leaves.

3. Then add the cooked bean, salt & mix all well.

4. Stir for few minutes. Add little water so that all the flavours get into the bean. Cook for few minutes, till water evaporates.

5. Then add grated coconut & stir.

Your Channa Sundal is all ready!! Enjoy the sundal....

Tomato Pickle

Tomato Pickle is really easy to make & comes in handy on those days your lazy too cook.. goes well as an accompianment with dosas, Idlis or even Rice & Dhal!

Ingredients:

Tomatoes - 10 no (I used Roma Tomatoes)

Canola Oil - 2 tbspns

Gingelly Oil - 2 tbspns

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Meethi Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Chili Powder - 1 1/2 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Hing - 1/4 tsp

Salt - to taste

Method:

1. Wash tomatoes & cut them into medium pieces.

2. In a pan, add both oil (if you dont have Gingelly oil,use only Canola oil - increase amount)& once hot add mustard seeds, methi seeds & let it splutter.

3. Then add chopped tomatoes & cook it. It will leave a lot of water, but will thicken as u cook.

4. Once tomatoes are mashed & half cooked, add chili powder, turmeric powder,Hing, Salt & keep on cooking till it becomes thick & oil starts to come to the sides of the pan.

Your pickles ready to serve. Can be stored for a few days.

For variation, i add chopped garlic or ginger in sometimes, while cooking.

Methi Parathas

Methi leaves are good for health & we can russel up some quick dishes with these if on hand. Tonight's dinner at my place is Hot Hot Methi Parathas with pickle & curds.

Ingredients:

Wheat Flour - 2 cups

Methi Leaves - A Bunch (Washed & Chopped)

Jeera - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Chili powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Oil

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients except oil & mix the flour like for normal Chapati.

2. Apply some oil on the outside of batter & leave it for some time.

3. Roll out to make chapatis & fry on a hot pan with oil. (You can use butter too - It tastes really good - That's how traditionally it is done in Northern part of India)

4. Serve hot with some pickle & Curd.

Enjoy your Parathas!

Fruit Pizza

This pizza is just simply superb & a great hit with people who dont like fruits too!! Its simple & very easy to make. I tried this recipe from Allrecipes & it was awesome.

Ingredients:

1 (18 ounce) package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

1/2 cup white sugar
1 pinch salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup water
Other fruits of your choice to decorate your pizza.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Slice cookie dough and arrange on greased pizza pan, overlapping edges. Press dough flat into pan. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Allow to cool.

2. In a large bowl, soften cream cheese, then fold in the whipped topping. Spread over cooled crust. You can chill for a while at this point, or continue by arranging the fruit.

3. Begin with strawberries, sliced in half. Arrange in a circle around the outside edge. Continue with fruit of your choice, working towards the middle. If bananas are used, dip them in lemon juice so they don't darken. Then make a sauce to spoon over fruit.

4. In a saucepan, combine sugar, salt, corn starch, orange juice, lemon juice and water. Cook and stir over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 or 2 minutes, until thickened. Remove from heat, and add grated orange rind. Allow to cool, but not set up. Spoon over fruit. Chill for two hours, then cut into wedges and serve.

Your Fruit Pizza is ready to serve!!

Pavakkai Theeyal

Pavakkai (in Tamil) or Karela (in Hindi) or Karathe (in Konkani) is one of my favourite vegetables!! I know lot of you will be thinking such a bitter vegetable, but i guess its an acquired taste & once you like it you'll really like it!! I make quite a few dishes from this vegetable & this recipe is from my cousins wife.

Ingredients:

Pavakkai - 2
Onion - 2
Tamarind - 1 small lemon size (soak in water)
Coconut - 5 tbspns
Corriander seeds - 2 tsps
Meethi seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red Chillies - 4 or acc to taste
Oil
Salt
Sugar - 1 tsp

Method :

1. Cut the Pavakkai into thin round slices. Apply salt & set aside for 10 mts.

2. In a pan add just the coconut & fry till its brown in color. Then fry the dhania, red chillies & meethi with a drop of oil. Grind all these 4 to a fine paste along with tamarind.

3. Now add oil in a pan & add finely sliced onions & saute till golden brown.

4. Deep fry the salted Pavakkai & set aside. Fry till its crispy & well done.

5. Add the ground masala to the sauted onions & add the fried pavakkai too. Add salt, sugar & very little water & bring to a good boil.

Serve this hot. Its yummy & goes well with rice & dhal!

Poha Polo (Poha Dosa)

Poha or Avul (in Tamil) is used in this dosa preparation. It's a very fluffy, soft dosa & very different from the usual ones we normally make.

Ingredients:

Raw rice - 1 cup
Udad Dhal - 3 tbspns
Poha - 1 cup
Salt

Method:

1. Soak rice & udad dhal for 2-3 hours & grind to a fine paste.

2. Then wash Poha in little water & drain & set aside. It will get fluffy in 5 minutes.

3. Add this to ground batter & grind again till well done. Add salt.

4. Theres no need to ferment this batter, you can make dosas instantly.

5. Serve it with any chutney of your choice.

This dosa you cover & cook only on one side.. no need to flip & cook other side. You will see lots of tiny holes on dosa when its cooked .