Mixed Vegetable and Mung bean paratha (Stuffed Indian bread)

Tweet

Hope you all had a good weekend. Is it just me or does everyone feel like time flies even faster over the weekends than it does the other days. That is how it works for me almost every weekend. One minute it seems like the weekend has just begun and the very next minute it seems like it is Monday morning. In a blink of an eye two days just disappear. Sigh :-(

Anyway getting back to the topic of mixed vegetable paratha with mung bean this is something i came up with the other day for dinner.  I had soaked some mung to make this mung snack, and on an impulse I  decided to use it in the paratha I was planning to make that day. This way I got to add some healthy protein to my dinner and make the paratha much more filling and nutritious. This flavorful , hearty paratha is perfect for dinner/ lunch, and is great for the lunch box as well.

   

Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make Mixed vegetable and mung bean paratha
For the dough
2 cups whole wheat flour (atta/ godumai maavu)
salt to taste
2 to 3 tsp oil
approximately 1 1/4 cups of water

For the filling
1/2 cup split mung bean lentil (mung dhal) soaked for 3 to 4 hours
4 small potatoes
1 heaped cup frozen or fresh green peas (if frozen thaw to room temperature) (optional)
2 large carrots grated
salt to taste
4 Thai or Indian variety green chilies (or to taste)
1 inch piece of ginger(optional)
1/2 tsp garam masala (or to taste) (can be substituted with any other curry powder)
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp finely cut cilantro (coriander leaves/ kothamalli)
a little oil or clarified butter (ghee/nei) to shallow fry the parathas
a little extra flour to help in rolling out the dough

For the outer cover,
In a large bowl mix together whole wheat flour and salt to taste. Add water a little at a time and knead to make a very soft yet non sticky dough. Add oil and knead some more. Keep this dough covered and let it sit at least 30 minutes before using in recipe.

For the filling
Soak mung bean in sufficient water for 3 to 4 hours. Drain well and cook mung bean until soft with as little water as possible. The mung bean should be a soft thick paste consistency
Cook potatoes with skin. When cool, peal skin and mash coarsely. Keep aside.
Cook the green peas until soft. Keep aside.
Mince ginger and green chilies together using a mortal and pestle or a blender. Keep this aside.
In a large bowl, mix together cooked mung bean, cooked peas, mashed potatoes, grated carrots,salt to taste, minced green chilies+ ginger, garam masala and mix well.Gently mash the vegetables and lentils a little, then add lemon juice and cilantro and mix well again, keep this filling aside

For the paratha

Divide dough into 10 to 12 equal large lemon sized balls. With the help of a little flour roll out dough into a small circle. Place 3 to 3 1/2 tbsp of filling in the center. Pull the ends of the rolled out dough together and press gently to seal the filling inside. With the help of a little more flour, roll out the dough evenly into as thick or thin a circle as you choose.
Heat a griddle/ tawa/ flat pan. When hot place the rolled out dough on it. Allow to cook for a few seconds. Flip over and cook the other side. Apply a few drops of oil or clarified butter around the paratha and on top of it. When the lower side has slight golden brown spots, flip over again and cook the other side until it gets golden brown spots.
The copyright of this content belongs to Veginspirations.com
For step by step pictures of the process of making parathas, check out this post.
Remove and serve hot with pickle/ salad/ yogurt/ raita.
Proceed with the rest of the dough and filling in the same manner.
Yielded approximately 10 to 12 parathas

Read more ...

Capsicum Brown Rice and can you identify this ?

Tweet

On my recent trip to Coimbatore (a city in India) I came across these bright and attractive greens. My mother in law tells me that this is an edible green, and a lot of folks in that region use it much as they would spinach. I have no clue what this is called or how it tastes , but I am curious to learn more about it. I would love it if any of you could identify this and give more information about it. Looking forward to your responses :-)
 


In the meanwhile,  moving on from unidentifiable greens to a much more well known green veggie. I am referring to green bell pepper also known as capsicum in some parts of the world. Green bell peppers are among my favorite veggies, these peppers seem to enhance the flavor of any dish that they are used in.This green bell pepper rice is something I make when I am looking for a quick, flavorful one dish meal. I just add some raita or salad and some chips or papad and I get a complete meal.




Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make Capsicum Brown Rice
1 1/2 cups brown basmati soaked in 2 1/4 cups of water for 30 minutes and cooked in the rice cooker with 1 tsp clarified butter (ghee/nei) see notes
2 green bell peppers (capsicum/ koda molagai) de-seeded and cut into thin strips
1 large onion cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2 tsp clarified butter (ghee/nei) or oil
Additional 2 tsp clarified butter (optional) (if you want a little richer taste)
3/4 tsp mustard seeds
salt to taste

Garnish with
4 tsp lemon juice (or to taste)
4 tbsp finely cut cilantro (coriander leaves/kothamalli)

For the masala
(Dry roast each of these items separately until aromatic, cool and grind to a fine powder)

2 tsp coriander seeds (dhania)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera )
2 tsp split black gram lentil (udad dhal/ulatham parappu)
3 dry red chilies (or to taste) ( I used byadgi variety)
6 tsp raw peanuts with skin

Soak brown basmati in water as mentioned above for 30 or so minutes, then place in a rice cooker, add 1 tsp clarified butter and cook until it is done. 

Dry roast each of the ingredients mentioned under masala separately in a heavy bottomed pan until aromatic.
Remove and keep aside to cool. Grind in a spice grinder to a fine powder.

Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed pan, add mustard seeds. When the seeds begin to splutter add onion and saute until the onions turn transparent.

Add bell pepper and stir fry until it is cooked yet crisp.
The copyright of this content belongs to Veginspirations.com

Add cooked rice, salt to taste, masala powder and mix well.

Just before serving add lemon juice and cilantro and mix well.

Serve with raita/ chips/ papad or any curry of choice

Notes:
Brown basmati can also be cooked in the pressure cooker if you prefer, just  make sure that the rice is cooked yet each grain is separate.

This dish can also be made with white basmati if you prefer, just cook the rice as you would for pulao. Then cool it a little by spreading on a plate, then add to the cooked capsicum and proceed as above. The reason you do not need to do this for brown basmati is because brown basmati holds its shape better and does not break when hot the way white rice does.

The masala can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container for convenience.

Read more ...

Coconut and Peanut flavored Mixed Vegetable Rice and information about a food recall

Tweet

Phew, what a long title to this post...... seemed unavoidable though, mainly because I could not think of any other name for this dish that described it as well. Anyway first about the recall,  I heard yesterday that there is a recall of products from Trader Joes that contain cilantro. Luckily for me I haven't purchased anything on the recall list from them, but if any of you have purchased any products from them, do check the link here for details of this recall.

Moving on to the mixed vegetable rice.......I love one dish meals because they are so convenient and quick. This coconut and peanut flavored rice is something that I came up with when I wanted something "different". I just kind of made up the dish and the masala for it as I went and had no real plans on posting the recipe on this site. But when we tasted it, the rice was so flavorful and delicious that we both loved it. I had to make it one more time, so that I could take pictures and write down the recipe, not that I am complaining about it............ Anyway if you too are looking for something "different" and flavorful you might want to consider this one dish meal :-)



Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make the Peanut and coconut flavored mixed vegetable rice

1 1/2 cup brown basmati rice (see notes) cooked in 2 1/4 cups of water
1 green bell pepper (capsicum/ koda molagai)
2 cups of mixed vegetables (any combination of cauliflower, beans, peas, carrots and such other veggies)

For the seasoning
1 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 Thai or Indian variety green chili (or to taste) (optional)
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder (hing/perungayam)

Roast in
1 tsp of oil
1 1/2 tbsp split yellow chick pea lentil (chana dhal/ kadalai parappu)
1 1/2 tbsp split black gram lentil (udad dhal/ ulatham parappu)
3 tbsp brown sesame seeds
5 tbsp raw unsalted peanuts
1/4 cup of fresh or frozen grated coconut (if frozen then thaw to room temperature)
3 dry red chilies (or to taste) (I used byadgi variety of red chilies)

Dry roast each of the ingredients mentioned under roast separately until each of them turns reddish and aromatic and keep aside to cool. In case of dry red chilies it changes color and looks a little dark red and brown sesame seeds begin to pop a little, then it is done and can be removed from heat. Keep these roasted ingredients aside separately to cool.

In a spice grinder powder the lentils + red chilies first, does not have to be very fine can be a little coarse. Then add sesame seeds and peanuts and powder in short bursts of powder, since over grinding can cause clumping. Finally add the roasted coconut and give it a couple of turns with the rest of the powder. Keep this powdered masala aside.

In a small pan heat oil, add mustard seeds. When the seeds begin to splutter add green chili and asafoetida powder and stir it a couple of times. Add bell pepper to it and saute until the bell pepper is cooked yet retains a little crunch. Keep this seasoning and bell pepper aside.
The copyright of this content belongs to Veginspirations.com
If you are using brown rice, then place it along with water in a rice cooker, and set it to cook on the brown rice setting. At around halfway point, add the vegetables and allow it to cook along with the rice as well.

When done, add salt, mix well then add powdered masala, and seasoning + bell pepper and mix well. Serve hot with pappad and raita on the side or with any other curry of choice.

Notes:

You can substitute white basmati rice or even short grained white rice instead of brown in this recipe.

If you plan to make this with white rice, cook the rice in the pressure cooker or rice cooker with water as required so that the grains of the rice do not get mushy but retain their shape, cool this rice a little by spreading on a plate. Steam cook all the vegetables except bell pepper until soft yet firm and keep aside. 

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil and proceed with the seasoning and sauteing the bell pepper as above. Then add the vegetables, stir a couple of times, then the cooked and cooled rice, salt to taste and the masala. Mix well, heat on low to medium low heat without stirring it often, and serve hot with pappad and raita or with any other curry of choice.

Read more ...

Slow Cooker Bisi Bele Bhath ~ One dish meal with rice, lentils and veggies

Tweet

The slow cooker is turning out to be quite useful in my kitchen. When I first bought it, I thought I would use it mainly for dishes like dhals, rajma and payasams/Kheers, which need slow cooking and a lot more attention on the stove top than I am willing to devote to it. I never really thought I would end up using it to make rice dishes like bisi bele bhath. Bisi bele bhath is a traditional dish from southern India made with rice, lentils and vegetables. It is a perfect one dish meal and quite filling especially when made with brown rice instead of white rice. My stove top version of this dish can be found here

This dish requires the rice and lentils to be well cooked making it the ideal for the slow cooker. The first time I made this in the slow cooker, I cooked the rice and lentils entirely in the slow cooker and it took me about 5 to 6 hours to complete it. But the last couple of times I made this in the slow cooker, I pre cook the rice and lentils a little and then use the slow cooker, this reduces the slow cooker time to just around three hours making it perfect for weekend lunches, when I can set it and go about my errands and find lunch ready when I return :-)




Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make Slow Cooker Bisi Bele Bhath
1 1/2 cups brown rice (or white rice, see notes)
3/4 cup split pigeon peas (tur dhal/ tuvaram parappu)
small lime sized tamarind soaked in sufficient water to submerge the tamarind (imli/puli)

1 large onion cut into 1/2 inch pieces or 2 handfuls of pearl onions/ shallots (pyaaz vengayam)
2 carrots cut into 1/2 inch pieces
7-8 small Indian eggplants cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup fresh or frozen green peas (optional)
(or about 2 to 3 cups of any other combination of vegetables like cauliflower, beans,peas etc)

2 Tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds (rai/ sarson/ kadagu)
1/4 tsp asafoetida (hing/ perungayam)

For the masala
1 Tbsp split yellow chick pea lentil (chana dhal/ kadalai parappu)
1 Tbsp split black gram lentil (udad dhal/ ulatham parappu)
2 Tbsp coriander seeds (dhania/ kothamalli virai)


12 2  inch pieces of dry coconut (copra) or 1/4 cup fresh grated coconut

5 dry red chilies or to taste

Place rice and tur dhal in a large container, fill with water and swirl with hand a couple of times, then drain. Fill with 4 cups of water and let the rice and lentils soak for about 30 minutes.

Soak the tamarind in sufficient water for about 15 to 20 minutes, when soft, press tamarind and extract juice from it. Repeat once or twice until all the juice from the tamarind is extracted. Discard the pulp and seeds. I got about 2 1/2 cups of tamarind juice.

Dry roast the ingredients mentioned under masala until reddish and aromatic separately . If you are using fresh grated coconut instead of dry coconut, dry roast the fresh coconut separately until it turns reddish.Cool to room temperature and grind to a fine powder. If you are using fresh coconut, powder all the other ingredients, except the coconut and then add coconut too and powder again.

The copyright of this content belongs to Veginspirations.com

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan. Add mustard seeds to it, when the seeds start to splutter, add asafoetida powder and stir for a few seconds. Add onion and saute until transparent. Add other vegetables and saute for a few minutes, not long enough to cook them just enough to start the process of cooking. Remove vegetables and place in container.

In the same pan, add tamarind juice and rice + lentils and the water it is soaked in and allow to come to a boil, then lower heat and allow the rice + lentils to cook for 15 to 20 minutes until at least half of the water has evaporated and the lentils and rice are half cooked and the tamarind has lost its raw flavor.

Remove and place the rice + lentils in the slow cooker, add vegetables, 2 cups of water and allow to cook on high for 3 hours. Add ground masala powder and salt to taste at half way point and stir a couple of times in between to ensure even cooking. Check to see if there is enough water and add more at half point if required.

Serve hot with chips/ papad, boondi raita or just enjoy it on its own.

Serves approximately 3 to 4

Suggested variation:
You can reduce the red chili by 1 and add 1/2 tsp of whole black pepper instead for the masala.

Notes
You can use white rice instead of brown basmati, but in that case you may need to set the slow cooker for lesser than 3 hours since white rice cooks faster than brown rice.

The masala can be made a day or two ahead to make things a bit faster when actually preparing the dish. Store bought masala can be substituted for the ground masala powder but I recommend trying the ground masala at least once, it really makes a huge difference to the taste of the final dish.

Read more ...

Mixed Vegetable Rice with Sesame seeds and dried Coconut and the answer....

Tweet

In my last post I had posed a riddle, the question was.......


What English word retains the same pronunciation even after you take away four of its five letters?

The answer is.................... "Queue".
Some of you promptly guessed the right answer and I was moderating comments on the post, so that the others would get a chance at the riddle too ! Anyway I have published all the comments that contained answers in them now. You can head out there if you are curious to see how many readers got it correct :-)

Moving on, some days I want nothing more than a single dish meal that is nutritious,flavorful,  filling and quick. This variation of savory sesame rice (ellu saadam) that I thought up one day fits the bill perfectly. This rice is more like a cross between coconut rice (thengai saadam) and savory sesame rice (ellu saadam) with a chock full of vegetables to make it more healthy. If you are looking for something quick and flavorful to take to a potluck with a south Indian theme, or are cooking for someone who is avoiding onions and garlic or simply looking to make a one dish meal for dinner, then this is the dish for you :-)





Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make Mixed Vegetable Rice with Sesame and Coconut
6 cups of cooked brown basmati rice (see notes)
2 green bell peppers(capsicum) deseeded and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 head cauliflower cut into florets
1 cup sweet corn kernels (optional)
2 carrots cut into 1/2 inch pieces
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder (hing/ perungayam)
1 tsp split black gram lentil (udad dhal)
1 dry red chili (optional)

For the masala
1 tbsp split yellow chick pea lentil (chana dhal)
1 tbsp split black gram lentil (udad dhal)
1 tbsp coriander seeds (dhania)
6 tbsp brown sesame seeds (ellu/til)
2 tbsp dried curry leaves
30 1 inch pieces of dried coconut (copra)
5 dry red chilies (or to taste) (see notes)

In a heavy bottomed pan, dry roast each of the ingredients mentioned for the masala separately, chana dhal and udad dhal until they turn light brown/pinkish brown, the coriander seeds until it browns lightly, the sesame seeds until it browns and starts popping,curry leaves for just a few seconds,dried coconut until it browns and red chilies until it starts to turns a little darker. Remove and allow these spices to cool to room temperature.

Using a spice grinder, grind these lentils and spices to a fine powder.Use short bursts of power to do this as over powdering can cause sesame seeds to start lumping.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add udad dhal and mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start to splutter and udad dhal starts to turn pinkish, add asafoetida powder and dry red chili if using. Stir a few seconds and quickly add bell peppers, carrots, cauliflower and sweet corn kernels.
The copyright of this content belongs to Veginspirations.com

Stir vegetables frequently until they are all evenly cooked, yet not mushy.

Add cooked rice, salt to taste and mix well. Add the powdered masala and mix well.

Allow to heat through and serve hot with raita and papad/chips or any type of south Indian curry if you chose.

Notes
You can make this with white basmati rice or white short grained rice too. If you use white rice you may have to lower the amount of dry red chilies used in the masala powder because white rice will not hold as much heat/spice as brown rice.

Use quantity of dry red chilies as per taste, my current batch of red chilies are very mild so even with this quantity of red chilies I only get mildly spiced rice.

Read more ...

Kadambam Saadam- A one dish meal with rice, lentils and veggies.

Tweet

Kadambam saadam  is a cross between Bisi Bele Bath and plain ole Sambar Saadam . Saadam is a Tamilian word (Tamil in an Indian language) for rice. Kadambam means an assortment of flowers tied together, in reference to this dish, it means an assortment of vegetables and flavors coming together.

This simple to make, tasty single pot dish is well balanced with brown rice, lentil protein and vegetables, and is great for quick lunches or dinners. Just serve it with some papads/ appalams or chips and a raita or any other salad  to complete the meal.



Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make Kadambam Sadam
1 1/4 cup brown basmati rice
1/2 cup split pigeon peas (tur dhal/ arhar dhal/tuvaram parappu)
small gooseberry sized tamarind soaked in water for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Vegetables required (see notes for substitutions)
2 onions (pyaaz/vengayam) cut fine (see notes)
1 green bell pepper/ red bell pepper (simla mirch/koda molagai) deseeded and cut into small pieces
1 large carrot cut into small pieces
1 cup frozen or fresh green peas ( I used frozen thawed to room temperature)

For the masala
1 1/2 Tbsp split chick pea lentil (chana dhal/ kadalai parappu)
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi dana/ mendiyam)
1 1/2 Tbsp coriander seeds (dhania)
4 dry red chilies (or to taste)

Seasoning
1 Tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds (sarson/rai/kadagu)
a pinch of asafoetida

Optional ingredients
1 tsp sambar powder (or to taste)

Garnish (optional)
Handful cilantro (coriander leaves) cut fine.
a few drops of clarified butter/ ghee/ neil (optional, omit for a vegan version) 

In a bowl or utensil add brown basmati and lentils, mix well. Add water to the rice and lentils, swirl a  few times with your hand and drain water. Then add  4 cups of water to it and let soak for about 30 to 45 minutes.

Pressure cook this brown basmati and lentils until soft (My pressure cooker requires about 4 whistles )

Soak the tamarind in enough water to submerge it for about 20 minutes or so Press tamarind to extract juice from it and pour the juice into another container. Cover the tamarind pulp with equal amount of water as first time and press tamarind again to extract juice from it, pour juice into another container. Repeat the earlier step one more time. Discard the pulp and seeds of tamarind and only retain its juice.

In a large heavy bottomed pan, dry roast the chick pea lentil stirring frequently, when the lentils give out a slight aroma and begin to become slightly reddish, add fenugreek seeds and stir until it begins to turn color.
Then quickly add coriander seeds, stir a few times and add dry red chillies. Stir this entire mixture a few times and then remove from heat and keep aside.

When cooled to room temperature grind to a smooth powder in a spice grinder. You can make this earlier and keep in an air tight container and use when required, or you can make double or triple the quantity and keep for future uses to make the process even faster the next time.

In the same pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds begin to splutter, add asafoetida if using, stir once or twice, then add onions and saute until onions turn translucent.

Then add all the other vegetables, sambar powder if using and stir a few times. Add tamarind juice, salt to taste and simmer until veggies are cooked and the tamarind juice loses its raw smell. .

Remove the cooked lentils + rice from cooker when the cooker is ready to opened and gently mash the two together,not completely just slightly for them to blend just a bit.

The copyright of this content belongs to Veginspirations.com

Pour this rice + lentil mixture into the tamarind+ vegetable mixture, add water if required to achieve required consistency. Adjust salt to taste if required, then add masala powder and simmer for a few minutes until the flavors mingle, remove from heat.

Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with a few drops of clarified butter/ ghee/nei on top with papads/ appalam/ chips and raita/ salad on the side.

Notes
If you have pearl onions, peel and use about 2 handfuls of pearl onions instead of regular onions, pearl onions enhance flavor in this dish.

You can substitute the rest of the vegetables with 3 to 4 cups of any other seasonal vegetables like green beans, cauliflower (gobi) , potatoes (aloo) , zucchini, bell pepper (simla mirch/koda molagai)  etc.

You can cook the rice and lentils on the stove top too, just place the rice and lentils along with water in a large heavy bottomed pan and cook on low flame, stirring frequently and adding water as required until both the lentils and rice cook to softness.

You can make this with white rice too instead of brown rice. If you do use white rice, and you do not want it too spicy you may want to scale down the quantity of red chillies used in the recipe because white rice doesn't need as many chilies for heat as brown rice does :)

Read more ...

Mixed Vegetable Khichdi ~ Masoor Dhal khichdi ~ One dish meal with rice, lentils and veggies

Tweet

Khichdi, as I explained in my post here , is a dish made out of rice and lentils that is simple, satisfying and wholesome. I find this the perfect comfort food and a great life saver for days when all I want is something familiar and simple and have no patience to try something exotic or different. Last week when I returned home in a rush and was thinking about dinner ideas, all I could think of was to make some khichdi. But since the basic khichdi lacks vegetables, my conscience would not permit me to make just that and be done. So I thought of trying to make a khichdi with some vegetables in them.

Since time was short I could not turn to my most trusted source for new recipes....the internet, so I just made this dish up as I went. I cooked the rice and lentils in a pressure cooker with the bay leaves tossed into it so that their flavor could get absorbed by the rice and lentils. I then used cumin seeds, asafoetida and a little chilli powder to impart more flavor to this dish.I kept the flavors in this rice dish minimalistic,since I wanted something on the simpler side as far as flavors go, so this is one rice dish that will work well with spicy curries too. I enjoyed this version of khichdi so much, I know I will be making this far more frequently than the other plain version. Try this when you are looking for simple and comforting one pot dishes and a change from the usual pulao's and biryani's :-)

If you are looking for one dish meals, you can also check out these other one dish meals
Bisi Bele Bhath
Kadambam Saadam

 

Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make Mixed vegetable khichdi

1 1/4 cup brown basmati rice (or white rice, see notes)

3/4 cup split red lentils (masoor dhal/ mysore parappu)

3 small bay leaves or 1 large bay leaf

1 medium sized onion cut fine (pyaaz/ vengayam) (Optional)

1 1/2  to 2 cups of mixed vegetables (cut into 1/2 inch pieces) ( I used a combination of cauliflower, carrots and peas but any seasonal vegetables like beans, carrots, potatoes, peas and bell pepper/ capsicum can be used)

1 Tbsb Clarified butter (ghee/nei) 

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/8 tsp asafoetida (hing/ perungayam)

1/8 tsp turmeric powder (haldi/ manjal podi)

salt to taste (namak/ uppu)

1/2 tsp chilli powder or according to taste

handful of cilantro/coriander leaves(hara dhania/kothamalli) cut fine(optional)

Mix brown basmati and whole red lentils,add water to it, swirl a couple of times and drain the water. Repeat this process a few times until the water runs clear.

Add 4 cups of water to this mixture, allow to soak for about 30 minutes. Add bay leaves, place in the pressure cooker and cook until soft. (This takes about 4 whistles in my pressure cooker) Alternatively you can place the rice and lentils in a large pan with the bay leaves and sufficient water to cook the rice and lentils and simmer on medium heat until the rice and lentils are cooked and slightly mushy.

Remove the bay leaves and discard.Keep the cooked rice and lentils aside.

Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed pan and add cumin seeds to it. When the seeds start crackling, add asafoetida, turmeric powder and quickly saute for a second.

Add cut onions (if using)  and saute until the onions turn translucent

Add vegetables and sprinkle a little water, a pinch of salt and cook until the vegetables are soft but not mushy.

Add the cooked rice and lentils to it, add chilli powder, salt to taste and mix well. Let it heat on low all the way through for a few minutes.

Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with raita or kadhi with some chips/ papad on the side.

Serves approximately 3-4

Notes

If you would like to make this with white rice, ideally white rice like sona masuri is a good choice for this dish. To cook sona masuri usually a proportion of 1 cup rice to 3 cups water is used, so for this quantity of rice and lentils you would need about 4 and 1/2 cups of water.

The ghee and the bay leaf mainly do lend a lot of flavor to this dish, so if these are not used it can make quite a bit of difference to the taste.

If you want to spice up this khichdi you could cut 3 to 4 green chillies (small Indian or thai variety) or according to taste and add it immediately after you add the cumin seeds to the ghee, saute for a minute and proceed with the rest of the recipe

Read more ...

Bisi Bele Bhath ~ One dish meal with rice, lentils and veggies

Tweet

Bisi bele bath is a one dish meal with rice, lentils and veggies that originates from Karnataka, a region in the southern part of India. It is similar to sambar saadam. This is a very famous and popular dish that is served in many restaurants in that region.

I learnt this dish specially for my father who loves bisi bele bath and I wanted to be able to make it for him.I am happy to report that I did and he loved it too.This dish is traditionally made with white rice and can be made that way too ,but for those of you who are looking for ways to incorporate brown rice in your diet since it is very healthy and has higher fiber content,this is a good dish to do it since the taste of the brown rice blends well in this dish. I have also added instructions to make this with white rice, if you would like to make it with white, do scroll to the bottom and read the notes at the end.

Check out these other one dish meals :
Kadambam saadam
Capsicum~ Bell Pepper rice

Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and method to make Bisi bele bath
1 and 1/4 cups brown basmati rice (or white rice, see notes)
1/2  cup split pigeon peas (arhar dhal/ tur dhal/ tuvaram parappu)
2 cups mixed cut vegetables like carrots, beans, peas and cauliflower
1 big red onion cut finely (or 15 to 20 small pearl onions/ shallots)

1 Tbsp oil
Tamarind size of gooseberry
salt to taste.
1 Tbsp clarified butter (ghee/nei) (optional recommended)
4 to 5 Tbsp finely cut cilantro (coriander leaves/hara dhania/ kothamalli)
1 sprig of curry leaves (kadipatha/ karvapillai) (about 8 to 10 large leaves)
 
For the masala:
1 1/2 Tbsp khus khus (poppy seeds/ khasakhasa)
1 1/2 Tbsp Split yellow chick pea lentil ( channa dhal/ kadalai parappu)
1 Tbsp Split black gram lentil (udad dhal/ ulatham parappu)
2 Tbsp Coriander seeds ( dhania/ kothamalli virai)
3 tbsp grated coconut
5 Dry red chilies (lal mirch/ molaga vathal) (or to taste, see notes)
Place the rice and lentils in a suitable sized container, fill with water, swirl with water and drain. Repeat this process a few more times till the water runs clean. Fill the container with 4 cups of water and allow the rice and lentils to soak for at least 30 mins. Pressure cook until soft (it takes me about 4 whistles in my pressure cooker ). For white rice, see notes.

Soak the tamarind in warm water for about fifteen to twenty minutes.Press out all the pulp and extract the tamarind juice 2 to 3 times until all the tamarind juice has been extracted. Discard the seeds and fibers.

Heat a heavy bottomed pan, add split chick pea lentil and stir until it turns slightly reddish and aromatic,remove and place the lentils on a plate to cool. In the same pan, dry roast split black gram lentil until reddish and aromatic, remove and place on plate to cool. Similarly dry roast khus khus for a few seconds until it starts to get reddish and pops a bit. Remove from heat and cool. Dry roast coriander seeds until aromatic and reddish, remove and cool. Dry roast red chilies for a few seconds. Finally dry roast coconut until it turns reddish. Cool all the ingredients and powder in a mixer/ blender to a fine powder. Keep this masala aside.

Heat oil in a large pan, add onions to this and saute until translucent. Add curry leaves, and stir a couple of times. Then add vegetables, tamarind extract and salt to taste and cook until the vegetables are soft and the tamarind has lost its raw smell.

Mash the rice and lentil mixture a little,add to the vegetables then add the ground masala, adjust salt to taste and simmer on low for a few minutes until the flavors mingle.  Adjust the water as required to achieve required consistency, this should not be too thick or too runny. Garnish with cilantro (coriander leaves) and serve hot with a little bit of ghee on top. 

Serves approx 3 to 4

This tastes fantastic with some chips/ papad and Boondi raita.

Notes:

If you are making this with white rice, usually something like sona masuri rice works well in this recipe. For sona masuri for 1 cup of rice, usually 3 cups of water works well to cook in the pressure cooker. So for this proportions of rice + lentils I would suggest about 4 and 1/2 cups of water.

Variation, you can reduce the red chilies by 1 or 2 and instead dry roast 1/4 Tbsp cumin seeds and 8 to 10 whole black pepper and grind that along with the masala for a slightly different flavor and taste. 

Read more ...