Masale Bhaat ~ Spicy Tindora Pulao

Today, I decided to make the famous masale bhat of Maharashtra. This is the marathi version of the popular vegetable pulao. This is so different from our regular vegetable pulao and is slightly on the spicier side. I had a newspaper cutting which had this recipe. But then I thought recipe from a blog will be more authentic and I chose the recipe from Ashwini's Food For Thought. She says this is a must for the wedding lunch and explains the wedding menu in detail. And positive feedback in the comment section of that recipe made me for this.  She had mentioned that traditionally, it is made using the 'ambe mohar' , short grain rice variety. And I wanted the authentic taste so bought that rice variety to try this. 

You need

• Short grain raw rice - 1 cup (ambe mohar is preferred)
• Ivy gourd/Tindora/Kovakkai - 1 cup, quartered
• Cashewnuts - 8-10 nos, broken
• Salt to taste
• Water - 2 cups

To temper

• Oil - 3 tblspn
• Mustard seeds - 1 tspn
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig
• Green chillies - 2 nos, slit
• Hing - few shakes

Masala - To roast and grind

• Copra - 1/3 cup, grated
• Coriander seeds - 2 1/2 tblspn
• Cumin -  2 tspn
• Sesame seeds - 1 tblspn ( I used white)
• Cloves - 4 nos
• Cinnamon - 2 1 inch sticks

Method

Roast the ingredients for masala in a kadai till the copra turns brown. No oil is added while roasting. Cool and powder it. Keep it aside. 

Chop the tindora into quarters. Wash the rice in several changes of water till the water runs clear. Heat a kadai or cooker pan with 3 tablespoon of oil. Add mustard seeds. When the seeds splutter, add curry leaves, hing, cashew and slit green chillies. Then add the chopped tindora. Saute for few minutes till the tindora starts to change color. Add the rice and give a gentle mix. Then add the powdered masala. Mix well so that the masala coats the  rice and tindora well. Add salt and 2 cups of water. Cover with a lid and cook till the rice is well cooked and there is no moisture left. 

Fluff with fork and serve hot with a side of raita and papad. 

The rice was spicy and the tindora gives a nice flavor to the rice. You can reduce the masala to suit your spice levels. I would say add 3/4th of the masala, check and adjust. 

Do check out what my friends are cooking for the marathon.

Beetroot Aur Mewa Pulao ~ Arusuvai Friendship Chain Season II Recipe

Arusuvai friendship chain season II is back. Thanks to Sayantani for reviving it. This friendship chain was kick started by Lathamma and Srivalli and Bharthi took it forward. In the first season, I received the mystery ingredient from Gaurav and I had sent to Harini/Sunshinemom. And I am glad I could be a part of this during the second season too. 

I received a lovely parcel from Veena . She sent me a lovely recipe book along with a hand written letter. Thank you so much, Veena. The book that came with the ingredient is right for the season with summer recipes from Chef. Sanjeev Kapoor. Veena mailed me saying she forgot to scratch the ingredient name in the hurry to mail the parcel. So asked me to take a guess at the ingredient with out looking at the label. On the first look, I thought it to be dried dates. But on closer look, I knew it was apricot. I made two dishes using the apricot. I made a pulao and had packed it for my husband's lunch box.  My  husband who doesn't give a feedback unless asked for, remembered to tell me the lunch was good, when he was back  from office. 

I followed the recipe from here and had scaled down the ingredients quantity to suit the amount of rice I had
taken.

You need

• Basmati rice/ any long grain rice - 1 cup (I used Surti Kolam)
• Water - 2 cups
• Beetroot - 2 small ones
• Ghee - 2 tblspn
• Pepper - 15 nos
• Bay leaves - 2 nos, torn
• Onions - 2 medium, julienned
• Raisins - 2 tblspn
• Almonds,cashews - 10 each
• Apricot - 5 nos, quartered
• Fig - 5 nos
• Garam masala - 1/2 tspn
• Mint leaves - 10 nos
• Salt to taste

Method

Wash and soak rice in 2 cups of water for half an hour. Heat ghee in a kadai or thick bottomed vessel. I used pressure cooker vessel. Add pepper,bay leaf and onions. When onions turn pink, add raisins, cashew, almonds, fig and apricot. Saute for few seconds. Drain the rice and reserve the water.Add rice, saute for three  minutes and then add the drained 2 cups of water.  Bring it to a boil. Add salt, garam masala and torn mint leaves. Cover and cook on a medium heat. When the rice is half cooked, add the grated beetroot and gently mix. Cover and continue to cook till it is done.

After adding the grated beets, don't mix it thoroughly. Give a gentle mix so that the rice doesn't turn red fully. And you will have shades of light red and dark red in rice as shown in the original recipe. I gave a thorough mix only to realise later what the 'mix lightly' in the recipe intended. This is only for the visual appeal and doesn't affect the taste at all.

If you find the water is less, you can add little amount of water so that it cooks well and also doesn't get stuck at the bottom.

This dried fruits and nuts beet pulao  along with a bowl of raita and roasted potatoes made a tasty lunch. The pulao did not taste on the sweet side even with the beet and the dried fruits added to it. The pepper sufficiently balances the taste.

P.S. Sayantani could not assign any blogger so that I can send the ingredient and keep the chain going. She says she either doesn't have the confirmation or the address of the blogger to give me. So, if any of you would  like to receive from me, please send your mailing address to Sayantani at -  ahomemakersdiary@yahoo.in. You can leave a comment here and I shall co-ordinate with Sayantani and get in touch with you.

Vegetable Pulao - One Pot Meal

One pot meals make a quick and filling lunch or dinner. Since its winter here, its mostly phulkas for dinner. Once in a while, I make this pulao for dinner. Pulao when served hot with a side of pickle and chips is always welcome. A medley of vegetables and spices with rice cooked in a pressure cooker makes a quick meal too.  I don't stick to this recipe every time I make pulao. But this is the basic recipe and I make changes according to my mood like adding some coconut milk or tomato puree etc. The vegetables that go in also add up to the taste of the pulao. The aroma when the cooker is opened, is enticing enough to bring your family to the table.

You need

• Long grain rice/Basmati rice - 1 cup
• Chopped Vegetables - 1 cup (carrot,french beans, potato, peas)
• Red chilli powder - 1/4 tspn
• Salt - 1/2 tspn

 To ground to paste

•  Green chilly - 2 nos
• Ginger - 1" piece
• Coriander powder - 1 tspn
• Garlic - 2 pods
• Onion - 1

For Seasoning

• Ghee/butter - 1 tblspn
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tspn
• Fennel seeds - 1/2 tspn
• Cloves - 4 nos
• Cinnamon -1" stick 2nos
• Bay leaf - 1 no
• Cardamom powder - 1/2 tspn

Method

Wash and soak rice in 2 cups of water for half an hour. Make a paste of the ingredients under to made to paste. Don't add water. Moisture from the onion is enough to make the paste.

Heat a pressure cooker. Add ghee or butter. When hot, add the seasoning ingredients. When the seeds turn light brown, add the ground paste. Saute till the raw smell goes. Tip in the chopped veggies and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain the water from rice and reserve the water. Add rice and continue to saute. Add chilli powder and salt and the reserved water. Stir well. Close the pressure cooker and cook for two whistles and cook in the lowest flame for 5 minutes or till another whistle blows. When the pressure is fully released, gently fluff with a fork. Check salt and add if needed.  Serve with some chips or raitha.

To make it more rich,you can add  julienned  and sauteed onions till brown, roasted cashews and raisins too.

Ginger Capsicum Fried Rice from The Mainland China and a review

I'm sure all of us must have tried at least once to recreate our favorite dish from a restaurant from which we have ate once or we frequent often. We usually try to guess that secret ingredient that gives the dish a unique flavor or taste. So how will it be when you have a ready reckoner to whip up a complete meal with the dishes from your restaurant coming from the person who started the chain of restaurants.  Yes, I am talking about The Mainland China chain of restaurants, started by Anjan Chatterjee. Anjan Chatterjee has come up with a cookbook to help in cooking Mainland China's signature dishes right at our homes.

The book starts with an introduction from the author and moves on to a briefing on Chinese regional cuisines, the utensils and various cooking methods, to  give a sneak peak into the Chinese cuisine. Notes about the ingredients commonly used in the book and with possible substitutes is quite helpful. The recipes for basic sauces, dips and pastes are interesting. The recipes are neatly divided into sections as starters, vegetables, fish, chicken to name a few.

A recipe is more interesting with a snapshot of the dish along with. Probably, coming from a famous restaurant, I guess, the recipes have taken the priority since the readers must be familiar with the dishes. This is not to say that the book is devoid of any pics. There are few drool worthy pictures in the middle of the book. 

I liked the two column lay out of the recipe with ingredients and method. There is ample space on each page to jot down your notes too. The only downside of the recipe is that there is no uniform format followed for the the measurement of ingredients. Its a mix of gm, ml, tblspn and tspn. Some of the recipes calls for 2gms of ginger/onion etc, which could have been made simpler and easier to comprehend. And a kitchen scale is not very common in Indian kitchens. I don't own one. But our Indian style of cooking with eyeball measurements comes in handy here.

When I received a mail from the publishers, I wondered if  I could do justice to the book, being a vegetarian. I was happy seeing the book, since I had enough choices to try from. Already I have tried their Ginger capsicum Fried Rice and crackling spinach. I have bookmarked many more - Hot and Sour vegetable Soup, Steamed Rice rolls with Vegetables, Cashew and chilly fried rice to name a few and their basic sauces and dips which are doable too. 

Here is the recipe for Ginger Capsicum Fried Rice as given in the book. The measurements I used is given in brackets

Ingredients

• Long grain rice, cooked - 500 g (2 cups of cooked rice)
• Groundnut oil - 30 ml
• Ginger, shredded - 40 g ( 2inch piece)
• Capsicum, shredded - 80 g (half of a capsicum)
• Salt - 1 tsp
• White pepper - 1 tsp
• Spring onion, chopped - 2 

Method
Heat the wok till it is smoking hot

Add oil and moderately heat to 120 C. You can either use a thermometer or put a cube of stale bread into the oil. It should get brown slowly and not immediately.

Add the ginger and stir-fry.

Add the capsicum and stir-fry til you can smell the aroma.

Add the rice, salt and white pepper. Toss well.

Add the chopped spring onion.

Remove from heat and serve hot.

The dish is simple yet very flavorful and delicious. Ginger is a favorite with me and loved biting the  crunchy ginger.

Kashmiri Pulav ~ Guest Post

I never knew about Anu, a silent reader of my blog, until when I received a query mail from her. After exhange of few mails, the relation ship blosommed from reader to a friend. When I requested her for a guest post, she was happy to play along. Please welcome Anu to Kailas Kitchen and she comes with a plate of delicious looking  Kashmiri Pulao.

Ingredients


Basmathi Rice – 1 cup

Ginger garlic Paste – 1 spoon

Cinnamon – 1 inch piece

Cloves – 3 nos

Cardomom – 3 nos

Cumin seeds – ¾ teaspoon

Aniseed – ¾ teaspoon

Pepper – ¼ teaspoon

Ghee – 2 spoons

Yellow food color – as preferred

Fruits cut into equal sizes( Apples, Pomegranate, Grapes, Pineapples) – 1 cup

Dry fruits (Pista, Cashew, Raisins, Badam) – ¼ cup

Salt – As required


Method

Rinse and soak the Basmathi rice for 5-20 mins

In a kadai, pour a spoon of Ghee and add cumin and aniseed first. Subsequently add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, grounded pepper(can add green chilli if preferred).  Also add ginger garlic paste. Just fry for 30 seconds and add the drained rice. Fry for 2 more minutes

Stop the flame, pour the rice and masala mix in the Rice cooker and add 1 and ½ cups of water along with required amount of salt and cook. Pour the rest of 1 spoon of Ghee.

Fry the Dry fruits with just little ghee and keep it aside

Once rice is cooked garnish with the fruits and dry fruits. I had made Onion Raitha and cauliflower pakodas to serve with the rice.

Puliyodarai/Tamarind Rice

Puliyodarai is fondly associated with travel. Lemon rice also shares the travel food tag. When packed and taken for a train journey, it stays good for a day. Also it is a common prasadam in many of the temples. Once the puliyodarai paste is made, preparing the tamarind rice is a breeze. It makes a good lunch box food too. The tamarind paste stays good for a week on refrigeration and for a month on freezing. The preserved pulyodaria paste and some cooked rice will come handy, if you have to prepare a quick lunch. There are umpteen ways to prepare the paste. This is my MIL's recipe and its a favorite with our family. Once you taste ice with the fresh, home made paste, you will never go for the instant puliyodarai powders available in the market.

Ingredients

To dry roast and powder
Red chilli - 3 nos
Chana dal/Kadala paruppu - 1 tspn
Urad dal/Uzhunnu paruppu - 1 tspn
Sesame seeds/Ellu - 1/2 tspn
Methi seeds/vendhayam/Uluva - 1/2 tspn

For the paste
Tamarind - lemon sized
Turmeric - 1/4 tspn
salt

Seasoning

Gingely oil/Nalennai - 4 tblspn
Mustard seeds - 1 tspn
Chana dal - 1 tspn
Roasted peanuts - 2 tblspn
Curry leaves

3 cups of cooked rice.

Method
Soak the tamarind in a cup of warm water. Extract the thick pulp and keep it aside.

Dry roast all the ingredients till the dals turn golden. Cool and powder it fine.

Heat a kadai with gingely oil. Add the mustard seeds. When it splutters, add chana dal, peanuts and curry leaves. Let the dal turn golden brown. Stir in the thick tamarind extract and add turmeric. Let it simmer till it thickens. Add salt and the ground powder. Simmer till it blends well.

Spread the cooked rice on a plate to cool. Drizzle some gingely oil so that the rice doesn't stick together. Add the paste to the cooked rice and mix gently. Serve with fried applams and enjoy your meal. I served with home made tapioca vadam and salad.

Thanks to Nags for hosting MM# Ravishing Rice, an event started by Meeta, since the recipe in my drafts, finally made it to the blog. This post is also for my blog reader A, who wanted the recipe. And thanks to my friend R, who introduced A to my blog.

Cauliflower fried rice

One friday, my husband called from office to say, one of his friend will be coming for dinner that night. Since it was the weekend, i didn't have any veggies stocked in my fridge. All I had was one cauliflower.
Decided to make Teekhat Meethachi Puris and panchmel dal. Having only cauliflower, went ahead to make fried rice using, which I haven't tried before. I usually don't attempt such experiments when guests are coming over. Thought since pooris are there, if it fails, I can adjust. Made dates payasam for the dessert. Shall reserve the recipes of other dishes for later post. First thought making it a one dish meal. Cooking the masala and adding rice to it and pressure cook. But did not feel comfortable cooking cauliflower. So cooked the rice separately and went on to prepare the base masala.

Wash the cauliflower and drop the flower into a pot of hot water added with little salt and turmeric. Cover and let it stand for 10 minutes.This will ensure that the small worms tucked inside the flower come out,if any. Cut the cauliflower into small florets.

Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Cauliflower florets - 1 cup

Onion - 1

Cumin - 1/2 tspn

Fennel seeds - 1/2 tspn

Cloves - 4 nos

Green chilly - 2 nos

Turmeric - a pinch

Chilly powder - 1/2 tspn

Tomato sauce - 2 tblspn

Soya sauce - 1 tspn

Oil - 2 tblspn

Cook rice separately and spread it on a plate to cool.

Heat oil in a kadai. Add cumin seeds, fennel seeds and cloves. When they start browning,add the chopped onions. Saute till the onions turn pink. Add the chopped florets. Add salt, turmeric, chilly powder. Cover and cook till the florets turn tender. Add 2 tablespoon of tomato sauce and a tspn of soya sauce to the cooking mixture. Cook for 2 minutes, till the flavors blend in.

Stir in the cooled rice and serve with yogurt or roasted papad. Left over rice can also be used. Even the masala can be prepared ahead and you freeze it. Defrost and use with cooked rice and pack it for lunch.

I am sending this to

JFI: Cauliflower , hosted by Mythrayee, an event started by Indira of Mahanandi.

Sunita's Think Spice:Think Twice: Mastic Gum or Fennel Seeds , guest hosted by Ivy.

Sprouted Kollu (Horsegram) Pongal

After a break, I am back again to blogging. After the vacation, I had planned some posts but both office and home took away all the time and naturally blogging took a back seat.

I regularly sprout moong,horse gram and wheat. Mostly it is steamed and used in salads and stir fries like cabbage/carrot. Occasionally moong sprouts are used in gravies for rotis/rice. I was thinking of using moong sprouts for preparing pongal in place of moong dal. When I planned pongal, I had only horse gram sprouts. Decided to go ahead with my plan of making pongal with the available sprouts. Actually, I was very skeptical of how it will taste and that too I was preparing it for breakfast. If it doesn't turn out well, I won't have time to prepare anything else since my husband leaves at 7:00 in the morning.

But When I opened the pressure cooker, I was completely swept over by the aroma of horse gram and rice combined with hing and turmeric. And with seasoning added to it, it was a winner.

sprouted horse gram (kollu/muthira) - 1/3 cup
raw rice - 2/3 cup
turmeric - a big pinch
hing powder - few shakes
water - 3 cups

Seasoning
Ghee - 3 tblspn
crushed pepper - 1/2 tblspn
jeera/cumin - 1 tspn
small wedge of ginger finely chopped and lightly crushed.
salt
curry leaves

Pressure cook horse gram,rice,hing powder and turmeric in 3 cups of water. Horse gram will not cook mushy. It gives a nice crunch to the pongal. Mash the cooked mixture.

Heat a kadai. Add 3 tablespoons of ghee. Add rest of the seasoning ingredients. When jeera turns into light brown, add it to the cooked rice+gram mix. Mix well. Serve hot with coconut chutney or any tamarind based gravy.

The consistency of pongal remains the same even on cooling unlike moong dal based pongal.

This goes to JFI-Sprouts guest hosted at Ammalu's Kitchen.

Spinach Carrot Pulao & Paneer Fry

One dish meal is always a life saver. Served with a simple raita, can make a very good satisfying meal. This pulao can be made in a jiffy. Not much chopping required. If you have the chopped veggies at hand, this is very simple and no grinding of masalas needed. I wanted to make a tasty one dish meal with minimum work and finally it turned out to be the way I wanted. It was very flavorful with the whole spices and crunchy while biting into the crisp carrots.

Ingredients

Chopped spinach - 2 cups Carrots chopped into small cubes - 1/2 cup Rice - 1 cup Onions sliced - 1 nos Red chilly powder - 1/4 tspn Ghee/oil - 1 tblspn saunf - 1 tspn Cardamom - 2 pods Cloves - 3 nos Cinnamom - 1" Poppy seeds - 1/2 tspn Wash and soak the rice in 2 cups of water for 30 minutes. If you are hard pressed for time, you can avoid soaking. Still it comes out well. Heat ghee/oil in a pan. Add all the spices. Roast till fragrant. Add sliced onion and suate till they turn pink. Add chopped carrots and cook till it is tender but crisp. Add chopped spinach and cook till the they wilt. Drain the rice and reserve the soaked water. Tip off the soaked rice. Saute for 5 minutes. Add salt and red chilly powder. Add the reserved water. Cover and cook in the same kadai. Stir the rice in between. Rice will be cooked in 20 minutes. You can either microwave for 25 minutes or pressure cook for 2 whistles. I have served with MW roasted papad, pan roasted paneer and cucumber raita. Cucumber Raita Grated cucumber, 3 slit green chillies, a teaspoon of jeera/cumin powder and salt is mixed to a cup of whipped curd. Garnish with some chopped coriander. Paneer fry Cubed paneer - 15 nos For marinade Hung curd - 1 tblspn Tomato sauce - 1 1/2 tblspn Pepper powder - 1/2 tspn salt Beat all the ingredients of marinade till smooth. Marinate the paneer for 30 minutes. Sprinkle few drops of oil on a tawa. Place the paneer pieces and cook on low flame. When one side is browned, flip the paneer and cook the other side too. This makes a good starter too. Spinach Carrot Pulao is going to Srivalli's Rice Mela JFI:Carrots hosted by The Cooker Sapadu Ready Event hosted by Aartee of Nalabagham

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

Vegetable Pulao & Malai Kofta for MEC Potluck

There are many ways to prepare a vegetable pulao. I have taken an easy route here - No grinding/powdering involved. Just chop some veggies, add the whole spices and shop bought garam masala for flavor. And an yummy pulao is ready. Can things get easier than this ?

For vegetable pulao,

Basmatic rice - 1 cup
A handful of sprouted peas. You can use fresh/dried ones too.If you are using dried ones, soak them for 6 hrs.
Cubed mixed vegetables - 1 cup (Use any veggies of your choice)
onion -1

ghee/oil- 2 tblspn

crushed cloves- 3 nos

cinnamon - 1 stick

cardamom - 2 pods

turmeric - a pinch

green chilly(slit) - 3 nos

garam masala - 1 tspn

salt

Wash and soak rice for 30 minutes in 2 cups of water.

In a microwave safe bowl, MW oil/ghee for 30 secs at high power. Add the spices - cinnamon, cloves and cardamom and MW for 2 minutes by stirring once in between.

MW for a minute after adding chopped onions. Add the peas, vegetables and rice along with the soaked water. Add a pinch of turmeric, salt and garam masala. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Stir in between.

Allow to stand for 5 minutes for it to cook completely. Adjust the cooking time according to your oven.
If you want, you can heat a teaspoon of ghee and add half teaspoon of garam masala and mix to the cooked pulao for more flavor

Malai kofta is made fully in MW. So no deep frying the koftas required.

For koftas

grated paneer - 100 gms

Big potato - 1

1/2 tspn corn flour

green chillies - 3 nos (chopped)

chopped coriander - 1 tbspn

chat masala powder - 1/2 tspn

salt and pepper to taste

For gravy

onion paste from 2 onions

tomato puree- 1 cup

ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbspn

ghee- 1 tbspn

garam masala - 1/2 tspn

cornflour - 1 tsp

salt,black pepper and red chilli powder to taste

For garnish

Fresh cream and chopped coriander leaves - 1 tbspn each

Preparing koftas

Cook the potato in MW for 5 minutes. Don't forget to prick on the potato with a fork before you cook.

Mash paneer, boiled potato and corn flour. Mix the rest of the ingredients and make a smooth dough. Form into small balls and shape them. Place in MW safe flat dish and MW at high power for 2 min. Reposition the koftas more than once.

Preparing gravy

In a MW safe bowl, MW ghee for 30 secs. Add onion,ginger-garlic paste and MW at high power for 4 min.

Add tomato puree, garam masala, salt, black pepper and red chilli powder for 4 mins.

Mix cornflour in little water with out any lumps. Stir into the gravy. Add one cup of water. Cover and cook for 4 mins

Add kofta and MW for one min. Garnish with coriander and fresh cream

Yummy malai kofta is ready. Using non- deep fried koftas did not make much of a difference.

Vegetable pulao and malai kofta is joining the potluck at Srivalli's.

Soya Vaangi Bhath & Sprouted Horsegram Salad

Soya chunks/nuggets was all that I knew of the soya products some years back. In those days, I was not aware of the nutritious benefits of the same. Soya chunks was not cooked in my home. I was introduced to these spongy balls at my friend T's house, who is my childhood friend and am happy to say we still maintain that friendship, in the same spirit, as was years before. (Touch wood). These soya chunks/meal makers as it is also known, was cooked regularly at her home. I developed a liking towards that. So when I started cooking on my own, I tried to include them in my menu too. Also for all the health benefits attached to soya.

During the weekends (Sat/Sun), me and my sister spent the whole day at T's house playing. T has a sister too. Four of us will play, like there is no tomorrow. We were not bored of playing the same set of games, every weekend. They had a huge backyard with many trees, literally making a roof over the backyard. In one summer vacation, we even managed to build a small house using bricks and clay. That house did not have any roof. So its just small walls partitioning each room. One of T's elder cousin was also there on vacation. He helped us in digging the clay and mixing with water etc. T's mother got us small earthen vessels and we cooked rice and sambhar in the newly built house . It was real fun. Our house did not last more than a week, since it could not with stand the heavy summer downpour. It was all fun for the 12 yrs old kids at that time.

Now to the recipe

Recipe source:Mallika Badrinath

Rice - 1 cup
Soya chunks - 1 cup

Small violet brinjals - 3 nos
Onion - 1
Ginger-garlic-chilly paste - 2 tspn
Lemon - 1

For masala

Cinnamon - 1" piece
Cardamom - 3 pods
Poppy seeds/Khus Khus - 1 tspn
Dried coconut/Kopra - 2 tblspn


Dry roast the spices together. If you don't have dry coconut, fry the dessicated coconut till brown.

Soak the soya chunks in hot water for 15 minutes. By then it must have puffed up well. Squeeze and wash in cold water twice. Crumble the soaked soya granules to break them up. Don't powder it. Cut brinjals into small cubes. Pressure cook the rice and spread on a plate to cool.

Heat oil n a pan and season with mustard, urad dhal and curry leaves. Fry onion till brown. Add cut brinjals, ginger-garlic-green chilly paste. When the brinjals are tender, add the soya granules, salt and cook. You can sprinkle little water if required. Add cooked rice, the ground masala powder and mix well. Remove from fire. Stir in lemon juice. Garnish with coriander leaves

For the salad,

Sprouted horse gram/kolli/kulith - 1 cup
Shredded cabbage, grated carrot, chopped onion and tomatoes - 1 1/2 cup
2/3 slit green chillies
Hung curd - 1 tblspn
Salt
Pepper powder
Chaat masala
Olive oil - 1 tspn

Wash and soak the horse gram overnight. Drain and tie the gram in a muslin cloth and hang it near your kitchen window. Make sure moisture is maintained in the hung cloth by dripping few drops of water at regular intervals. By next day morning, it must have sprouted well. It takes longer time for the horse gram to start sprouting when compared to whole moong.

Pressure cook the sprouted gram for 2 whistles. It doesn't turn mushy on pressure cooking. Mix everything in a bowl and serve the protein rich salad with the pulao. This salad can be eaten as a meal by itself . It is very filling.





Soya Vaangi Bhath is my entry for JFI-Soya, hosted by Sia of Monsoon Spice.

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.