Lemon rice

This is an easy item well liked by my hubby, especially for dabba lunch in office or in train! So here goes.

Ingredients
Rice 1 cup
Oil for seasoning
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Urad dal 1 tsp
Chana dal 1 tsp
Green chillies 2 slit
Curry leaves a few
Asafoetida a pinch
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Mor molagai (Green chillies salted and cured in yogurt, dried, preserved, and fried-on-demand. This is optional but gives a wonderful dash to the lemon rice.)
Lemon juice 1 tbsp (to taste)

Mor molagai

Method

1. Cook rice, cool it and spread it out so that the grains are separate.
2. Heat oil in a kadai. Burst mustard. Add urad dal, chana dal, mor molagai, green chillies, curry leaves, asafoetida, turmeric powder, salt and fry till done. Take care to not burn anything.
3. Add the rice and give it a good mix. Adjust salt. Add lemon juice and mix it again.

Let it sit atleast an hour for the flavours to seep in. Serve with any curry, raita of your choice.

Tomato rice

This is a favourite of mine. A one pot meal that can be done when tomatoes are in season. Serves 2-3 people

Ingredients
Tomatoes 4 large and ripe.
Onion 1 big chopped
Mustard seeds, Urad dal, Cashews, Raisins, curry leaves for garnishing
Chilli powder 2 tsp(to taste)
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil 1 tbsp

Rice one and half cup

Method

1. Boil the tomatoes whole in water for 10-15 mins. Let them cool down, skin them and grind them to a puree without adding any water. Take care that no lumps are formed.
2. Cook rice in 3 cups of water, salt to taste(just enough for the rice) and 1 tsp of oil. Spread the rice on a wide plate to cool and separate the grains.
3. Heat oil in a kadai. Add seasonings and fry for a minute. 
4. Add onions and fry till they get translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for 2 mins.
5. Add the tomato puree, chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt to taste (just enough for the masala). Mix well and cook till oil separates.
6. Add the cooled rice and mix well taking care not to crush the rice. 

Serve with a dal and raita. Its yumm!!

Masoor dal pulao

Found this recipe at Chefinyou Masoor dal pulao. The below is how I made it.

Ingredients
Long grained rice 1 cup
Masoor dal 1/3 cup
Onion 1 big chopped
Spring onions 1 stalk chopped
Cilantro chopped.
Tomato 1 big chopped
Mint leaves a few
Frozen peas 1/4 cup
Saunf 1 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Green chillies slit 2-3
Biriyani masala powder 1 tsp
Lemon juice few drops
Water or coconut milk 2 cups.
Salt to taste.
Oil 1 tbsp
Cinnamon 1 piece, 1 clove and 1 bay leaf

Method

1. Wash the rice and dal together well and allow to soak for 15-20 mins. Drain water and keep aside.
2. In a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil add the saunf, cinnamon, clove and bay leaf. Once they sizzle, add the onions,green chillies, ginger garlic paste and stir till raw smell goes.
3. Add the mint leaves, tomatoes, salt to taste and stir till tomatoes look mushy.
4. Add the soaked and drained rice mix, turmeric powder, biriyani masala and mix well for about 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the coconut milk/water, peas, lemon juice and simmer for few minutes till rice starts appearing on top.
6. Reduce heat to minimum and cook covered for exactly 15 mins. Switch off heat and let it rest another 5 minutes.
7. Fluff it a bit and garnish with cilantro and/or chopped spring onions.

Serve with raita, papad and pickle. Perfect for days when you dont have too many things at hand and still want some filling meal. The peas, spring onions, mint leaves are optional, if you dont have them, dont hassle yourself too much. And you can even scale it up a bit, with adding more veggies to your taste.

Methi pulao

When I got a frantic message from a cousin on my chat window for a dish with methi leaves and that she was dying of hunger, Methi pulao was the first dish that came to my mind. One dish meal, easy to cook and tasty too,the flavour of methi in this is just too good! I found it at showmethecurry.com

Here it is.

Ingredients:
Fenugreek/Methi – 1 bunch
Rice- 2 cups
Oil – 2 tbsp
Cumin Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Tomato – 1, med. diced
Turmeric Powder (Haldi) – 1/2 tsp
Green Chillies – to taste, finely chopped
Red Chili Powder – to taste
Coriander Powder (Dhaniya) – 1 tbsp
Salt – to taste
Water – 4 cups

1. Chop the roots and the thick stems off the bunch of fenugreek leaves.
2. Wash well and finely chop the rest.
3. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt on the leaves, mix and keep aside for 15-20 minutes.
4. Wash the rice well and soak in some water and keep aside for 20 minutes.
5. In a pan (that has a tight fitting lid), heat oil on medium heat.
6. Once the oil is hot, add in the cumin seeds and allow them to change color.
7. Add in green chillies and tomatoes, turmeric powder.
8. Squeeze out the water from the fenugreek leaves and put them in the pan.
9. Add in coriander powder and red chili powder.
10. Cook for a couple of minutes.
11. Drain the water from the rice and add the rice to the methi leaves.
12. Cook for 2 minutes.
13. Add the water and mix well.
14. Check on the salt, add if needed.
15. Increase the heat, and allow the rice to cook till most of the water has evaporated and you can see the rice come up to the surface.
16. Mix, lower heat, preferably to simmer and cover. Cook for 15 minutes.
17. After 15 minutes, open cover, turn off the heat, mix/fluff gently.
18. Cover and allow the Rice to rest for a couple of minutes before serving.
19. Serve hot with Raita and pickle.

Capsicum Rice

Capsicums. I tend to start wondering what to do with them when they sit staring at me everytime I slide open the veggie basket in the refridgerator. Decided to cook capsicum rice for dabba since the Man likes 'kalandha saadams' for dabba. My reference was Mallika Badrinath's cook book 100 Rice Delights.

Ingredients
Rice 1 cup
Capsicum 2 chopped
Lemon juice to taste(optional)
Grated coconut 2 tbsp scraped
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves to season
Cashews and peanuts to season(optional)

Masala powder (fry in oil and powder)

Red chillies 3
Cinnamon 1/2 inch stick
Coriander seeds 2 tsp
Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
Chana dal 1 tsp
Urad dal 1 tsp

Method

1. Cook rice with 2 cups water. Cool and separate the grains.
2. Heat oil in a kadai. Add the seasonings and stir for 1 min.
3. Once done add the capsicum, turmeric powder, salt and cook till capsicums turn soft. Add the coconut and stir for a minute or so.
4. Add cooked rice to this, the masala powder and mix well. Adjust salt. Add lemon juice and mix well.

Peas pulao

The Man is not a chapiti lover. He wants rice. Some rice, any rice, but please... rice with every meal. So it was peas pulao with kadi, chapiti, and subji tonight. I did not want to go the whole hog, so cut down on the richness aspect. This is the bare-bones peas pulav as I see it. See note below to make a real fragrant peas pulao.

Ingredients
Rice 1 cup
Water 2 cups
Frozen peas 1 cup (thawed to room temperature)
Jeera 1 tsp
Onion 1 medium chopped
Green chilli chopped to taste
Red chilli powder to taste
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste 1 tsp
Handful of mint leaves chopped (absolutely optional, I added them simply because they were staring at me threatening to spoil unless consumed quickly)
Oil 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method

1. Cook the rice with salt and little bit of ghee. Spread so that the grains separate.
2. Heat oil in a kadai. Add jeera. Once it splutters, add onion, green chillies. Fry till onions turn translucent.
3. Add the green chillies, ginger garlic paste and saute for a couple of minutes.
4. Add green peas, salt to taste, turmeric powder, chilli powder, chopped mint leaves and saute for a few mins more.
5. Mix in the rice, thoroughly so that it heats all the way through.

Serve hot with raita, papad, or any combo of your choice.

Note:

• Can fry cashews, kismis and add. It will more rich.
• One clove, cardamom, 1/2 inch piece of cinnamon before adding the onions will give added flavour.
• The rice can be cooked with some coconut milk. Gets real delicious that way.
• I add salt for the rice and salt for the peas masala separately. So that the salt level is just right for the dish.

Ven pongal(White pongal)

What is a wedding breakfast without pongal-chutney as one of the items?? My father's eternal favourite.
At my place, I sometimes make it for lunch or dinner, light, easy and hearty.

This is how we make it. Pongal increases to many times its original volume. The below measures are for 4-5 people.

Ingredients
Rice 1 cup
Moong dal 1/4 cup
Jeera 2 tsp
Peppercorn 1 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves
Asafoetida a pinch
Cashew broken
Ghee 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds and red chillies (optional)
Salt to taste.
Water 5 cups.

Method

1. Dry roast the jeera and pepper corn. Once they cool, powder them coarsely. Keep aside.
2. Heat a kadai. Dry roast the rice and moong dal. Keep stirring. Dont let it burn. Let it cool once the rice starts curling up. Once its cool, wash thoroughly with water.
3. In a cooker, add the rice and moong dal, 5 cups of water, salt, asafoetida. Cook it for one whistle on high and one more whistle on low.
4. The pongal should be very well cooked.
5. Heat ghee. Add the cashew, curry leaves, pepper-jeera powder, mustard seeds, red chillies.
6. Add it to the cooked pongal and mix well. 

Serve hot with chutney and gotsu.

Sakkarai pongal (sweet pongal)

This is a yumm comfort food, one which takes me down memory lane to Amma's food. It was a happy moment when my sonny said its one of his favourites and asked to make it sometime.
This recipe is from my mother. Very simple. No frills.

Ingredients

Raw rice 1 cup

Crushed jaggery 1 and half cup

Ghee half cup

Cashews and raisins, cardamom powder

Milk 2 cups

payatham paruppu (moong dal) 1.4 cup

Method

• Roast rice and payatham parupu withour oil in a kadai till it turns slightly brown.

• Cool, wash well and drain water well.

• Add 5 cups of water to milk in a thick bottemed vessel. Add the rice and cook.

• Mix 1 cup of water in jaggery and heat till it dissolves.

• When it is almost cooked add the jaggery after straining for mud.

• Add the ghee and seasoning and cook till it becomes thick.

Note
water can taken less increasing the milk

Yumm biriyani

This is the Hyderabadi biriyani dish I made from Archana's kitchen. I made slight changes to her sequence, but the spirit remains the same. I have christened it to 'yumm biriyani'. Dont let the long list of ingredients scare you. Its not as difficult as it looks, and worth every minute of the effort.

Ingredients

• beans sliced to long pieces
• carrots sliced to long pieces
• potatoes sliced to long pieces
• cauliflower florets
• peas
• capsicum sliced to long pieces

Wet Ingredients

• 2 - 3 tablespoons of garlic + ginger + green chilli paste
• 1 cup sliced onions

Dry Ingredients

• 1 cloves
• 1/2 inch stick of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 whole cardamoms
• 1 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
• 2 teaspoons of red chilli powder (or 3-4 whole red chillies)

Other Ingredients

• 2 cups of good quality basmati rice
• 1 cup of freshly chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup yogurt beaten well
• ½ cup freshly chopped mint leaves
• 1 pinch of saffron
• 1/2 cup of sliced and caramelized onions
• Salt to taste
• 1-2 tablespoon of Sunflower Oil/Vegetable oil

Method

• Cook the rice with 3 cups of water. The water added is less than is required, we don't want to rice to get fully cooked, as it will get cooked again with the biriyani masala, whose process follows below.

• Steam the vegetables until done and not over cooked.

• Heat oil in a big sauce pan; add the clove, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf, fennel seeds, jeera. Once done add the onions and saute. Add the grren chilli-garlic-ginger paste sauté on low/medium heat until it releases a nice aroma and also has changed color to a slight golden brown.

• Now add the chopped tomato, turmeric powder, chilli powder and saute until it has turned soft and almost like a paste.

• Add the yogurt, salt, saffron and mint leaves and the vegetables. Bring it to one boil.

• With this masala being at the bottom of the pan, add the almost cooked rice on top of this masala, don't mix it as yet. Now cover the pan with a lid and let it sit for 15 more minutes on low heat. Turn off heat and let the biriyani sit for another 15-20 minutes, covered.

• Finally add the add the caremelized onions and gently stir in the masala from the bottom into the rice. The flavors released are simply aromatic. Do not mix too thoroughly.

Note: Cooking Time and Water for each rice might vary. So at the end of the cooking process if you feel the rice is still a little hard, then add a little more water and cook on the lowest heat for a few more minutes.

Jhatpat rice

Had to figure out a quick rice item for the man's lunch box, and decided to throw in everything that I could use. None of them were in sufficient quantity to able to own the dish, but the result was still tasty and interesting.

Ingredients

Cooked rice, half cup
Onions chopped 1 small
Green chillies chopped 1
Lemon juice (I just had a few drops)
Mint leaves (I just had very few of them on me) chopped
Jeera 1 tsp
Green peas frozen 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil 2 tsp

Method

1. Heat oil, add the jeera and fry.
2. Then add the onions, green chillies and fry. Once that is done, add mint leaves and fry. Add the green peas and cook till soft.
3. Add the rice, salt and mix well. Once it is mixed well, add the lemon juice and again mix.
4. Serve with raita. Khatham kahaani.

I can think of N number of variations to this. Adding curry powder, cashews, chopped veggies, whatever comes to mind. No hard and fast rule to this rice, you can have a field day with the ingredients.