Poha BisiBeleBath

During our last trip to Mumbai, we made it to Shirdi too. On our return trip to Mumbai from Shirdi, we travelled by the day bus and reached my uncle's house at 10 p.m. We were all tired by the journey and just wanted to have some curd rice (That's the comfort meal especially after a tiresome journey) and hit the bed right away. Our bus was expected to reach by 8:30 p.m. Lalitha mami had made bisibele bath (BBB) and curd rice for dinner. As I said we were in no mood to relish BBB. On first look, the texture of BBB was different and with the taste of the first morsel, I asked what went in the BBB. It was made of poha. Poha has blended in well. I felt BBB with poha was light on stomach too. Here is my version of it with poha. I have followed the same method as I did with broken wheat before.

I washed and pressure cooked poha for 2 whistle. Just add enough water to moisten the poha. Take care to use the thick variety of poha.  Else it will get dissolved on cooking. I used the thick brown variety which is more nutritious too.

I used two cups of poha. Rest of the ingredients are same. The quantity was enough to serve 4. On my first attempt I didnot pressure cook the poha. I soaked it for 15 minutes and drained it. I mixed it along with the veggies and cooked. I felt the poha was dry and not soft and the pressure cooked method gives soft poha and it blends well. You can choose to MW also.

Thengai Sadam/Coconut Rice

In my childhood days, kalandha sadham/ mixed rice preparations was not very common at home. It made occasional appearance when packing food for travel and invariably for Pathinettamperukku(Aadi-18). We used to look forward to the lemon rice, coconut rice, puliyodarai prepared for the same. That used to be the after-school tiffin for us, with generous helping of karuvadam and rice vadams. Later on,things changed. It was prepared when ever we wanted and we needn't wait for Aadi to arrive. And coconut rice tops my list of favorites. This is how I prepare it. Its ideal for lunch box too.

Rice - 1 cup
Grated coconut - 1 cup

Coconut oil- 4 tblspn

Mustard seeds -1 tspn

Urad dal - 1 tspn

Red chilly- 2nos

Hing - a pinch

Curry leaves - few

Salt

Pressure cook rice and spread on a plate to cool. Rice should not cook mushy. It should be cooked but the cooked rice grains should be separate.
Heat a tablespoon of coconut oil. Add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add urad dal, chillies broken into two,hing and curry leaves. Roast till dal turns light brown. Pour the seasoning over the rice. In the same pan, heat 3 tblspn of coconut oil and add the grated coconut. Roast the coconut till light brown. Add the roasted coconut along with salt to the rice. Mix gently. Serve with applams or any other deep fried fritters. For a change, I have served with an easy potato curry.

Pressure cook cubed potatoes, chopped onions, green chilly and ginger with salt and turmeric. Mash lightly with a ladle. Season with mustard and cumin. A tasty side dish is ready.

This is my entry to Rice Mela hosted by Srivalli

Print Recipe

Tomato Rice /Thakkali Sadam

There are varieties of rice which are popular in the South like the pulaos of the North. Coconut rice, lemon rice and tamarind rice/pulioyodharai are the common ones and they are served as prasadam too. In my childhood days, I am more familiar with the above said types. Later on, Amma started preparing tomato rice, which she learnt from one of aunts. Needless to say, we were hooked to it and loved it for our lunch boxes. Tomato rice with some appalam or any fritters makes an ideal choice as travel food too. There are many ways to prepare this. I follow the method where in I use all the powders readily available on the shelf.

Cooked rice - 2 cups with grains separated.
For the masala
Ripe tomatoes - 3 nos

Onion - 2 nos

Red chilly powder - 1/2 tspn

Sambhar powder - 1 tblspn

Green chilly - 2 nos

Curry leaves - few

Gingely oil/any vegetable oil - 3 tblspn

Mustard seeds - 1 tspn

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tspn

Turmeric - a pinch

salt

garam masala - 1/2 tspn (optional)

Finely chop the onions and tomatoes and keep them separately.
Heat a kadai with 3 tablespoons of oil. Add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add the cumin seeds. When it starts to brown, add the slit green chillies, curry leaves and chopped onions. When onion turn slightly brown, add chopped tomatoes. Cook for 3 minutes or till the tomatoes turn mushy. Add the powders (turmeric,red chilly powder, sambhar powder) and salt. Keep stirring in between so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of kadai. When the oil separates from the gravy, remove from fire. If you want to add garam masala, add before taking off from the fire.

Mix with cooled rice and serve with fritters/raitha. I have served with microwaved sago(javarisi) applams.