Palak Pulao

If you are not a big fan of this slimy thick greens called Palak, just turn around to see me back you with raised hands. I don't hate palak but I don't enjoy it too much other than the delicious Palak Paneer. But then the greens has loads of goodness in it like iron etc, hence cooking with it is a must in my kitchen. 

This time it was a rice that I wanted to make with it for packing lunch boxes for people at home. Hence here is Palak pulao that even the 'no no greens' people would also enjoy :)

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup

Palak / Spinach - 1 1/2 bunch

Green chillies - 4

Small onions - 15

Tomatoes - 3

Grated coconut - 2 tblsp

Cashews - 10

Red chillies - 4

Coriander seeds - 2 tsp 

Salt - for taste

Cinnamon - 1 inch piece

Cloves - 3

Method:

Cook rice and separate the grains. 

Peel the onions and slit green chilies. Chop the tomatoes finely. 

Wash and chop the palak. Take a tsp of oil in a pan and fry the chopped palak by sprinkling a little water on it. Close and cook for some time. Allow it to cool. 

Take a tsp of oil in a pan and fry red chilies and coriander seeds. Now grind the cooked palak, cashew nuts  coconut, coriander seeds and red chilies together into a smooth paste by adding little water. 

Now heat 2 tsps of oil in a large pan and add cinnamon and cloves. Then add the split green chilies and small onion and fry for few minutes . Now add tomatoes and fry for few minutes. Finally add the ground palak paste and fry till it starts smelling good :)

Now add salt and mix well. Finally add the cooked rice and give it a good stir until everything is mixed well. 

Serve hot with raitha of your choice. 

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here. 

Cabbage Rice - Lunch Box Recipe

Life runs on a fast forward mode these days. Infact the 3X fast mode. Gone are the days when women just had to cook and take care of the house. Now we also have careers in various fields and are running behind our dreams. Time becomes very essential and we need to quickly cook healthy food, pack for the lunch and move on with our work. 

I have been making more of lunch box rice recipes these days to quickly get done with the kitchen chores and get going with work. Here is one such simple version of cabbage rice that will require just 10 mins and no pre-preparation time. 

Likewise I even plan things to reduce on my shopping time and do online shopping these days. Life is made simple with sites like https://www.cuponation.in/ where you find good deals on all products that we need for home :) 

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup

Cabbage (Chopped) - 1/2 cup

Onion - 1

Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp

Urad Dhall - 1/2 tsp

Channa Dhall - 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Oil

Method:

Chop onion and cabbage finely. 

Wash and cook rice with 2 cups of water. Once cooked, add a tsp of oil and separate the grains and keep it aside. 

Take a tsp of oil in a pan and crackle mustard seeds, urad dhall and channa dhall. Fry for a min and add ginger garlic paste and saute for 2 mins. Then add chopped onion and cabbage to it. Sprinkle just enough water to cook the cabbage and close with a lid and allow it to get cooked for 5 mins. 

Now add chilly powder, garam masala, turmeric powder and salt and saute for 2 mins until the flavors get infused into the vegetables.  

Finally add cooked rice and mix well. Test for salt and add more if required. 

Quick cabbage rice is ready for packing :)

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here. 

Tomato Rice

OMG its a week already! Most of you would have been wondering why I was missing for quite some time and why there wasn't a posts too. Life completely gets busy when there is a new entry in life. Yup! My sister delivered a cute little princess on Valentines day. A lovable girl indeed! :) 

The tiny tot is keeping all of us at home on our feet all the time. I mean it. Little did I know that there would be so much of attention needed for a kid! Oh but I am loving this. I am running around happily buying things for her, cleaning her potty and playing with her :) She is really the princess of the house now :)

So that's the very reason I couldn't compose a post for my blog. Now that she has given me some time, here I come with a simple comforting tomato rice and the base mix for it. 

The simple spice mixed of saunf and cinnamon with tomato would make it really delicious and the rice mix can be stored in the fridge for almost 10 days and used. Make life simple when you need to pack lunch boxes. :)

Ingredients:

Tomatoes - 5

Green chilies - 4

Garlic pods - 15

Curry leaves 

Saunf - 1 tblsp

Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece

Channa dhall - 1 tsp

Urad dhall - 1 tsp

Mustard - 1/2 tsp

Salt - for taste

Method:

Step 1: Dice tomatoes into small cubes and peel the garlic pods. 

Step 2: Split the green chilies lengthwise. 

Step 3: Powder the saunf and cinnamon coarsely. 

Step 4: Take 2 tbsp of oil in a sauce pan and crackle mustard, channa dhall and urad dhall. 

Step 5: Add the green chillies and curry leaves and saute for a min. Now add the ground saunf and cinnamon powder.

Step 6: Now drop in the diced tomatoes, garlic pods and saute in low flame until it gets cooked and becomes thick. Tomato rice mix is ready. 

Step 7: Cook rice with exact measure of water and add 2 tbsp of ghee to it. Separate the grains. 

Step 8: Now add this rice mix to the rice and mix well. Serve hot with potato chips. 

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here. 

Banana Chips Rice Mix

I really cant have sambhar, rasam and curd for lunch all 7 days of a week. It makes the though of lunch so boring and exhaustive. I am a person who craves for variety and wouldn't mind anything to break the monotony. oops I can hear my MIL saying "as if you eat so much". Yup I am a quality food person and not a quantity food person. aahaa which just means that I love variety but eat just too less.

On one such occasion last week, I opted to have some podi rice to make the cooking and eating simple. Mom went through her super large diary of recipes to pick this one for me so that I can easily make it and blog about it too :P Oh yeah, it has become that way these days. Cooking is just not for eating but for blogging too ;) Quickly made this podi and trust me it tasted very interesting with a crunchy texture :)

If you too have been tired with long cooking sessions, opt for this one and finish the magic in a jiffy :)

Ingredients:

Plantain chips - 1/2 cup
Moong dhall - 1 tblsp
Channa dhall - 1/2 tblsp
Thoor dhall - 1/2 tblsp
Red chillies - 4
Garlic - 4 pods
Salt - for taste
Jeera - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 10

Method:

In a dry pan roast the 3 dhalls, jeera, red chillies and the curry leaves separately, one followed by the other.

Take a tsp of oil in pan and fry the garlic pods.

Now add all this to the mixie along with the banana chips and salt and powder it coarsely.

Add this to rice and mix well. Serve hot :)

Try to make the podi just before use. The chips gives a crispy texture to the podi which will not be the same if stored and used.

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here.

Paneer Pulao

You know!! I was lacto intolerant until I was 1. None of the milk products could be consumed, if done by mistake it would result in high levels of diarrhea and it even intoxicated me is what mom says.. :(

Thank God! All thanks to GOD for getting me rid of it. I cant even imagine being away from milk, cheese, ghee, paneer, sweets, CURD, lassi, butter milk, ICE CREAMS and so on.. My life would have been so boring without them. I am so sorry if my statement is offending the vegans but for me life would have been hard without these because I like them so much :)

This pulao is with one of my latest interests - the paneer. The soft cubes are so delicious when they are in curries, as starters and even in rice. They take the taste of the spices from the dish and bring it out so beautifully when you bite them. :) Yummmm.

This rice is so simple to make yet delicious and grand to serve. :)

Ingredients:

Paneer cubes - 1 cup
Rice - 1 cup
Onion - 1 large
Tomato - 1
Peas - 1/2 cup
Green chillies - 2
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece
Cloves - 3
Ghee - 1 tblsp
Salt - for taste

Method:

Cut the onion into thin slices. Dice tomato into small cubes. Split the green chillies.

Wash and soak the rice for 15 mins.

Take 1 tbsp of ghee and 2 tsp of oil in the pressure cooker and add the cloves, cinnamon piece, green chillies, garam masala and ginger garlic paste. Fry for a min and then drop in the sliced onion, peas and tomato and saute until onion turns golden brown.

Now drain the soaked rice and add it to the pressure pan too. Saute for two mins and then add 2 cups of water and adequate salt. Mix well and pressure cook for 2 to 3 whistles.

Meanwhile saute the paneer cubes by adding few tsp of oil in a pan. I like my paneer slightly crispy on the sides with soft inner part.

Once the rice is done, remove from pressure pan and mix in the paneer cubes. Serve hot.

Enjoy with onion raitha.

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here.

Mint Rice

Mixed rice is a boon when it comes to quick lunch plans and also for packing up food for work. It has for heaven sake been our family favorite too and we enjoy such rices much better than sambar and rasam types of large spreads.

A rice with fresh mint flavor can sure be your favorite too.

Spare ten mins in your kitchen to make mint rice mix and enjoy making mint rice as and when you like just in a jiffy :)

Ingredients:

Mint leaves - 1 bunch

Coconut - 1/2 cup

Red chillies - 6

Tamarind paste - 1 tblsp

Jaggery - 1 tsp

Salt - for taste

Onion - 1

Oil - 3 tblsp

Method:

Pluck, clean and wash the mint leaves.

Grind mint leaves, scrapped coconut, red chillies, tamarind paste, jaggery and salt together into a smooth paste by adding some water. Keep it aside.

Dice onion into small squares.

Take 3 tblsp of oil in a pan and fry the onions until transparent. Now add the ground mint paste and cook on medium flame until it is well cooked and becomes a thick paste.

Once done allow it to cool for a while and transfer to a clean bottle.

Store in referegerator and use. It will last fresh for two weeks.

To make mint rice:

Cook rice and separate the grains by adding some ghee to it.

Now mix the mint rice paste that we made above with the cooked plain rice. See to that you dont smash the rice.

Serve it with chips.

Enjoy the mint flavored rice :)

Tips:

Remember to cook rice with a little less water than usual to keep the grains separated.

You can use basmathi rice for making this mint rice.

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here.

Raw Mango Rice / Maangai Sadam

Me and dad rate rice varieties more than sambhar and rasam. So atleast 2 days of a week would surely have some kind of rice variety in the lunch menu.

Raw mango being in its peak season surely deserves to be cooked in as many ways as possible. So out of the infinite varieties it can add taste to food, this is one among my most favorite :)

A tangy and spicy rice with potato chips made my day :) It would surely make yours too :)

Ingredients:

Raw Mango - 1
Green chillies - 2
Red chillies - 2
Asafoetida - a pinch
Jaggery - 1 tsp
Salt - for taste
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Urad dhall - 1/2 tsp
Channa dhall - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves

Method:

Peel the skin of the mango and chop them roughly.

Grind the chopped mango pieces with green chillies, red chillies, asafoetida, salt and jaggery into a smooth paste.

Take a pan and add 5 tsp of oil. Splutter mustard, urad dhall, channa dhall and curry leaves. Now add the ground paste and fry for five minutes. Switch off the stove and collect it in a clean bottle.

Add few tspn of this paste to cooked rice and mix well to make raw mango rice. Serve with potato chips.

Yummy and tangy raw mango rice is ready :)

Enjoy making :)

Tips:

You can store the prepared raw mango paste in the refrigerator for 10 days and use.

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here.

Jeera Pulao & Punjabi Aloo Amritsari

Blogging has given me the boon of getting introduced to a lot of like minded friends from different parts of the world :)

One such sweetest buddy blogger is Sharmilee of Sharmis passion :) We got to know each other a year back and since then the friendship has grown to an extent that we even talk on phone for hours :) I was even more happy when I met her a couple of months back. Blogging has brought me a friend for life time :) awww sorry sorry too many friends for life time infact :)

Sharmilee is a very talented cook who manages to have minimum of 30 posts on draft on any day :P Now food bloggers would know how passionate she is towards cooking and blogging!! She is awesome at photography as well and we keep sharing our ideas all the time :)

This recipe that she posted a week back tempted me too much that I instantly cooked it up and all of us at home loved the combi a lot. All credits and thanks to her for the recipe :)

Ingredients for Jeera Pulao:

Basmathi rice - 1 cup
Jeera(Cumin seeds) - 2 tsp
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece
Bay leaf - 1
Curry leaves - few
Green chillies - 2
Onion - 1 large
Ghee - 1 tblsp
Oil - 1 tblsp
Salt - for taste
Water - 2 1/2 cups

Method for Jeera pulao:

Wash and soak rice for 15 mins. Chop onions finely.

Take a pressure pan and add oil and ghee. Drop in the cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf and cumin seeds. Saute for just one minute. Now add the curry leaves and split chillies and fry for a minute again. Add chopped onion and saute until it turns golden brown in color.

Drain the rice and add it to the pan. Mix it well with the other ingredients. Now add water and salt to it. Mix well and taste a tsp of this water to check on salt levels. Close the pan and pressure cook for just two whistles on medium flame.

Jeera pulao is ready.

Serve it hot with Punjabi Aloo Amritsari or any gravy of your choice :)

Ingredients for Punjabi Aloo Amritsari:

Potato - 5

Curd - 1/2 cup

Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

To make paste:

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Besan - 2 tbsp
Ajwain seeds(omam) -1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

To grind:
Onion - 1
Green chillies - 1
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Cashews - 5

Method for Punjabi Aloo Amritsari:

Cook potatoes and dice them into small cubes.

Make a paste of besan, salt, ginger garlic paste and ajwain by adding just a little water. Coat this mixture on the potatoes and allow it to marinade for half an hour.

Now take some oil in a pan and shallow fry the marinated potatoes until crisp and golden brown. Keep this aside.

Grind roughly chopped onion, green chilly, ginger garlic paste and cashews together by adding little water into a smooth paste.

Take two tsps of oil in a pan and add the above ground paste. Fry till raw smell leaves. Add a pinch of turmeric powder, garam masala powder, chilly powder, coriander powder and salt to it and mix well. Allow it to boil for two mins and simmer the stove. Add the curd and mix well. Finally drop in the fried potatoes to it and mix well.

Serve the creamy aloo amristari with jeera rice and enjoy eating :)

You can make this as an accompaniment with ghee rice or even roti, chapathi etc :)

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here.

Omam / Carom Seeds/ Ajwain Rice - A healthy meal

I have been indulging on a lot of fatty and junk food lately ;) After all it was a birthday month at home with me and sis celebrating our birthdays ;) with loads of cakes and icecreams etc..

So just wanted a break from sinful food and get into a health conscious meal at-least for a day and so made this rice today ;)

Omam(Tamil) which is called as Ajwain in hindi and Carom seeds or Bishop's weed in English is a healthy spicy that helps a lot for digestion.

So this aromatic rice is for sure going to be a treat to the tongue and nose and also help you deal with your digestion issues. :)

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup rice(cooked)
Omam/Ajwain/Carom seeds - 1 tblsp
Garlic - 10 pods
Marinated chillies(Moar milagai) - 4
Salt - for taste
Ghee

Method:

Cook rice and separate the grains by adding some ghee to it.

Take a tsp of ghee in a pan and fry the garlic pods for few mins and collect them on a plate.

In the same pan, add the omam and marinated chillies and fry for two mins. Now add the fried garlic to the pan along with the cooked rice and salt. Saute for a while till everything gets mixed and salt is evenly spread.

Serve it hot with potato chips.

Yummy and super healthy Omam rice is ready to eat. :)

Happy making :)

Find recipe for Moar milagai(Marinated chillies) over here.

Tips:

Since omam has a different flavor its best to make this rice with normal cooking rice than using basmathi. Basmathi would over take the flavor of omam which wouldn't be really good.

Eat the marinated chillies along with the rice. They are extremely tasty and not too spicy :)

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here.