Beetroot Rice with South Indian touch

Beetroot Rice

 

Here is the recipe of Beetroot rice with South Indian touch.  Very Simple yet tasty rice.     

 

Ingredients:

 

 Basmathi rice : 1 cup ( soak for 15 mts )

 Mustard seeds -- ¼ tsp

 Cumin seeds -- ¼ tsp

 Ginger -- 1 inch

 Shallots -- 10

 Curry leaves -- one arch

 Tomato -- one chopped

 Beetroot -- one chopped

 Sambar powder -- 2 tsp

 Cardamom -- 1

 Salt to taste.

 Water – 1 + 1/2 cups

 Ghee -- 1 tbsp

 Coriander leaves for garnishing.

 

Method :

Soak Rice in 1+ ½ cup of water for 15 mts.

      In small pressure cooker ,  add Ghee , temper mustard and cumin seeds.  After Mustard stops spluttering  add  chopped small onions, curry leaves, ginger .

     Sauté till onion becomes transparent . Add Tomato, sambar powder, cardamom powder saute for few mts .

     Add salt, chopped beetroot, rice along with water …. Close the cooker and cook for a whistle.

     Open and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. 

 

 Enjoy Beetroot rice with  raitha and papad.  

 

 

 

 

 

Peas Pulav / Matar Pulav

Peas Pulav /  Matar Pulav

 

One of the easiest and a popular North Indian Pulav  is Mattar Pulav .   We can have this pulav just with any raitha and crispy papad. 

 

Basmathi Rice :   1/2 cup

Peas :   1/2 cup

Green Cardamom :  1 ( Whole )

Cinnamon stick :   1/2 inch ( whole )

Clove :  2 ( whole )

Cumin seeds :   1/2 tsp

Chopped Onion :  2 tbsp

Green chilly :  2

Salt to taste

Oil + Ghee :  1 tbsp

 

Soak Rice for 15 mts,  in 3/4  cup of water .

In 2 ltr cooker, pour oil + ghee and temper with cumin seeds.  Add whole garam masala ( cardamom , cinnamon, clove ) and give a nice stir.  Add chopped onions and fry them nicely till it becomes caramelized.  Slit chilly and stir for few seconds.   

Add soaked rice along with water and add salt and mix nicely.

Close the lid and cook for a whistle.

 

Enjoy Matar pulav with Raitha and Papad.

 

Note : 

Instead of adding Onion while cooking ,  caramelize it separately and add it as a garnishing finally .

You can use Frozen Peas instead of fresh ones.

 

Lentil Chutney / Paruppu Thogayal

Lentil Chutney / Paruppu Thogayal

Paruppu thogayal is the best combination for Milagu Kuzhambu .   Milagu Kuzhambu, Paruppu thogayal, Mor Kootu, Green veggies,  Jeeraga Rasam , Fried Appalam , Flavored buttermilk, pickle with hot rice and ghee makes you feel satisfied …  These types of menu though it fills stomach , you don’t feel heavy as it is a healthy meal.

Recipe for Paruppu thogayal :

Tur dal / Thuvaram paruppu :  1/2  cup

Urad dal/ Ulutham paruppu:  1 tbsp

Red chilly :  2 or 3

Black pepper :  1 tsp

Salt to taste

Grated Coconut  :  1/4  cup.

Til oil / Gingelly oil :  1 tsp

          In oil fry dals, chilly, pepper till the dal turns into golden in colour , in low flame.   Finally add salt and give a nice stir.   Let the mixture cool down.

Grind with coconut nicely. 

Add little bit of water , say … 2 tsp of water at a time… and grind nicely to get thick Thogayal/paste consistency.

Enjoy Paruppu thogayal with Milagu Kuzhambu .

Queries and Suggestions are invited.

Banana Stem Curry / Vaazhai Thandu Curry... MW method.

 

 

Banana Stem Curry / Vaazhaithandu Curry

                  (Microwave method )

 

Banana stem is highly nutritious , rich in fiber , helps in weight loss, good for immune system ..  It also cures acidity.  It’s good for diabetes patients.   Regular intake of Banana stem prevents the occurrence of kidney and gall bladder stones.

  For this recipe,  it takes just 5 minutes to get cooked. Let’s see the recipe now…

 

Banana Stem :  Roughly 20 cm

Green gram / Moong dal :   1/4 cup

Green chilly :  3

Chopped Ginger :  1 tsp

Salt to taste

Turmeric powder :  1/8  tsp

Thin Butter milk : 1 cup

Mustard seeds :  1/2 tsp

Curry leaves :  5

Hing powder :  2 pinches

Grated coconut :  2 tbsp.

 

Soak green gram in sufficient water for half an hour.

          Remove the outer covers from the Banana stem until you can peel no more.   

 

Slice them and put them in the thin buttermilk .  After cutting each and every slice , remove the threads from the stem using finger .  Soaking in butter milk prevent chopped stems becoming  dark. 

 

 Now remove the slices from buttermilk and cut them into small pieces and put it back in the buttermilk till you chop all the slices.

 

In MW safe bowl , add soaked Green gram (after draining water ) and Banana Stem after draining buttermilk completely.  Add turmeric powder and mix nicely.

 

MW for 3 minutes in high .

Meanwhile, in a pan , temper with  mustard .  When mustard seeds stops spluttering, add chopped green chilly, ginger, curry leaves and hing powder .  Saute for a minute in low flame.

 

 

After 3 minutes of cooking ,  add salt and tempering with the banana stem and mix nicely. 

MW for 2 minutes in high .

Give 2 minutes of standing time.

After opening garnish with freshly grated coconut.

 

 

Serve Banana stem curry with hot rice and  Sambar or Rasam.

Enjoy the healthy food.

 

 

Rich Honey Kesari

Rich Honey Kesari

          We spotted a  bee hive in our society and decided to remove it as it started giving problems.    And a result is , we got some decent quantity of pure honey .    Pure Honey tastes as if I have added some juice of Orange in it or I should say…this is how I found it. Tasted different when compared with the one we get in Shops.

     Honey should be consumed raw and it's better to avoid cooking or adding it with hot dishes as it may destroy all goodness of honey.  Still, we do have a practice of replacing sugar with honey,  just to reduce the consumption of sugar. 

          Ok... Fine..... Isn’t it the time to celebrate with the fresh organic honey ?    

 I prepared Honey Kesari as kesari is one of the most favorite sweet in my family.  It tastes great with the fresh flavor of Honey.  Let’s see how it should be prepared.

Ingredients :

Rawa / Sooji :  ½ cup

Ghee : ¼ Cup

Honey : 1 cup

Chopped Cashews and Almond nuts :  1 tbsp

Green Cardamom : 1

Water : 2+ ¼ cup

Food colour of your choice : a pinch  ( optional )

In a Pan / Kadaai ,  ghee roast Rawa + Nuts + cardamom powder, in low flame till Rawa turns into golden in colour.   Remove and keep it aside.

          In the  same Pan add water and honey.  When it comes to boiling stage , add the roasted rawa mixture, food colour and mix nicely.  Close the lid and cook in low flame till the rawa absorbs all the water and gets cooked perfectly.

Very healthy and honey flavored Kesari is ready to serve hot.

Note : 

In this recipe no sugar is added.

You can use the Store bought Honey in this recipe if you can’t get the organic one.  

If you have any queries or Suggestions , Let me know about it.   

Mango juice .... really refreshing.

Ripe Mango... refreshing drink.

 

Ripe Mango : 1

Lemon Juice :  from half of the lemon

Salt : a pinch

Sugar : 2 tbsp 

Water : 1 cup.

 

Peel and slice mango and make it a pulp adding sugar.

Mix with lemon juice , water and salt.

Add ice cubes if needed.

Yummy and tangy mango drink is ready to serve in style.

 

 

Note: 

I have used Alphonso but you can use any type of ripe mango. 

 

Sambar using sambar powder

Sambar

Sambar which is prepared    without Garam masala but with the wonderful flavor of hing and  sambar masala powder . 

Ingredients :

Tur Dal / Tuvaram Paruppu :  ½  cup

Turmeric powder : 1/4 tsp

Water : 2  cups

Salt to taste

Tamarindpaste : 2 tsp

Mixed Veggies : 1 cup

Sugar or Jaggery : 1/4 tsp 

Sambar powder  :  3 tsp

Hing :  1/8 tsp

Tempering :

Mustard : ½  tsp

Curry leaves : few

Red chilly : 1 

Garnishing :

Curry leaves : 1 arc

Coriander leaves chopped : 2 tsp.

          Soak dal for 15 to 30 minutes. Cook Tur dal with ¼ tsp of turmeric powder and a drop of ghee adding enough water in pressure cooker .  Mash cooked dal & keep it ready. 

In 2 ltr cooker add   water , salt, tamarind paste, sambar powder , vegtables , sugar ….

Mix everything nicely and cook for a whistle.

After opening mix mshed dal and give a nice boil. Adjust water consistency if required. Switch off. 

In oil, temper with mustard seeds, curry leaves and red chilly. 

Garnish with curry leaves and coriander leaves in hot sambar. 

Very tasty Sambar is ready to serve with hot rice and Curry.

Note : 

In this recipe , I have not used onion . But if you want you can add while cooking , after giving a quick stir fry.

Can use any veggies like Drumstick, Pumpkin, Beans, Green Brinjal.

Instead of using readymade hing powder, use block hing ( katti perungayam ) for nice flavor.

          Try and let me know how you found the recipe.

Pepper / Milagu Kuzhambu

Pepper /  Milagu Kuzhambu

First Method: 

Red Chilly --  5

Black Pepper – 1 tsp

Coriander seeds – 4 tsp

Tur Dal – 4 tsp

Hing  – ¼ tsp

Fenugreek seeds -- ¼ tsp

Curry leaves – 2 Arc

Jaggery powder -- ½ tsp

Salt to taste

Rice flour --  ½ tsp

Turmeric powder -  ¼ tsp

Tamarindpaste --  4 tsp

Ghee --  2 tsp

Til Oil --  2 tsp

Mustard seeds --  ½ tsp

Water --  1+1/2 cups

Pepper kuzhambu powder :  In a small cooker ( 2 ltr ),  add a tsp of ghee and fry coriander seeds, tur dal, red chilly, pepper, fenugreek seeds, Hing and stir fry for few minutes till the dal gives nice aroma.

When it comes to room temperature,  Grind with curry leaves.

          Using  same cooker, add rest of the ghee and oil and temper with  mustard seeds .

     Add water + tamarind paste + rice flour + Kuzhambu powder + salt + turmeric powder + jaggery powder and mix nicely without any lumps.

Cook for a whistle in medium flame.

Very healthy and tasty Pepper Kuzhambu is ready to serve with Paruppu Thogayal ,hot rice and roasted Papad.

Variation:  Use Black gram ( urad dal ) in place of Tur dal .

Note:  If you are open cooking, using Kadai,  add enough water and cook for 15 mts to form a thick gravy. 

------------------

Second Method : 

Recipe courtesy : Yogambal Sundar.

Serves : 4

Tamarind / puli / Imli :   Lemon size

Pepper/ Milagu/ Kali mirch : 3 tsp

Red chilly/ Vara milagai / lal mirch : 2 or 3

Split pigeon peas / Thuvaram paruppu/ toor dal : 1 tsp

Black gram lentil/ Ulutham paruppu/ Urad dal : ¼ tsp

Curry leaves/ karuveppilai / kari paththa : Handful

Cumin/ Jeeragam/ jeera : ½ tsp

Mustard seeds :  ½ tsp

Asafoetida/ katti perungayam / Hing : ½ tsp

Jaggery/vellam/gud : ¼ tsp

Garlic / Poondu/ lahsun :  10 cloves ( Optional )

Sesame oil/ Nallennai/ Til ka tel : 2 tbsp

Rock Salt/Kal Uppu/Chendha Namak :  to taste

Water / thanni/ paani : 1 cup

Rice flour/ arisi maavu/ chawal ka atta :  1 tsp

Soak tamarind in water for half an hour and extract juice.

In Pan/Kadai, in oil add garlic and sauté for few minutes till it changes its colour lightly. 

Remove from pan and keep it aside.

In the same pan , using left over oil, fry lentils, pepper, red chilly , asafetida and when lentils become golden brown, add curry leaves and saute them lightly . Remove and when this mixture gets cool down, grind them into fine powder along with rice flour.  If needed can add little water while grinding.

In Pan temper with mustard, cumin seeds and add tamarind juice, salt, jaggery powder, garlic and ground paste.  Mix it nicely without any lumps.

Cook till the gravy becomes thick and oil oozes out.

Very healthy, Spicy Milagu Kuzhambu is ready to serve with rice and some fresh sesame oil.

Milagu kuzhambu with paruppu thogayal make a great combination to have with rice.

This Milagu Kuzhambu have more shelf life than usual Sambar or Rasam as we are not adding cooked lentils at the end.