Lemon Rice

  

      Third in the rice series is lemon rice. This is one of the most popular one amongst the variety of rice dishes I frequently make for my friends. An easy and quick to prepare and convenient to carry. A very refreshing and tasty lunch box dish. This dish always finds a place in valai kappu (baby shower) functions. Those who have not tried this must give it a try.

INGREDIENTS :

• Rice - 1 cup
• Lemon - 1
• Turmeric powder 1/4 teaspoon
• Salt to taste

FOR SEASONING :

• Oil - 1 1/2 teaspoon
• mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry leaves - A few
• Chana dal = 1/2 teaspoon
• Urad (white)- 1/4 teaspoon
• Green chillies - 3 nos
• Onion finely chopped - 1

METHOD: 

• Cook rice the usual way and let it cool. Leftover rice can be used.
• Squeeze the lemon juice, add salt and turmeric powder and mix them.
• Sprinkle the juice over the cold rice and mix gently taking care not to break the rice.
• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds,chana urad dal and fry till the dal becomes golden brown.
  
• Now add curry leaves, onion and green chillies. Saute them till the onion is translucent. Lastly, add the rice adjust salt and toss around slowly keeping the flame low.
• Remove, sprinkle chopped coriander leaves and serve with papad.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#65

Arisiyum paruppum recipe

   Arisiyum paruppum means rice and dal cooked together. I'm not aware if this dish has another name. It 's a popular dish in our side (Tiruppur, Coimbatore), usually made for breakfast or dinner. It's meal by itself and does not need any other side dish. It's quick and a time saver when you have unexpected guests at meal time. It can be served with dry vegetables, pickles or curd. Variations can be made by adding veggies to it. I've made a simple one without adding vegetables to it. Serve this with home made ghee and you will be left wanting more. Here is the recipe.

INGREDIENTS :

• Rice- 1 cup
• Chana dal- 1/4 cup
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Salt - To taste 
• Water - 3 cups

FOR SEASONING :

• Oil - 1 teaspoon
• Ghee - 1 teaspoon
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry leaves - A few
• Garlic - 2 small
• Onion - 1 big (I've used shallots. They taste better)
• Green chillies - 2 or 3
• Tomato - 1 small

METHOD :

• Wash rice and dal and keep aside.
• Heat oil and ghee in cooker. Once it is hot add mustard seeds. Let them splutter. 
• Add diced garlic, curry leaves, onion, green chillies. Saute till the onions are translucent.
• Add tomatoes and saute for a minute or two. Now add  rice and dal with water, turmeric powder and salt. Mix them all nicely, close the lid and cook upto 3 whistles (as you normally cook rice).
• Once the gas is turned off, let the steam in the cooker go by itself and then open. Serve it with ghee, curd, pickle or fried brinjal.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#65

Ven Pongal

There are so many dishes to cook with rice. It was very difficult to choose only three of them. My first one in this series is ven pongal as I made this when my father had come to my place. This is one of his favourite dishes.

This is a very popular and simple dish which can be made in a jiffy. It neither requires many ingredients nor needs much time. It tastes great with coconut chutney. Now for the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

• Rice- 1/2 cup
• Moong dal (yellow)- 1/4 cup
• Cashew nuts &Raisins- 8 each
• Salt to taste

FOR SEASONING:

• Oil- 1 tablespoon
• Ghee- 1 1/2 tablespoon
• Ginger chopped- 1 teaspoon
• Cumin seeds- 1 teaspoon
• Whole black pepper- 1 teaspoon
• Curry leaves- A few

METHOD:

• Dry roast moong dal and rice separately until it is hot to touch. Do not over fry it.
• Heat oil and ghee add finely chopped ginger, saute for 2-3 seconds, then add pepper, jeera seeds (you can pound pepper and jeera slightly for more flavor), cashew nuts,raisins and curry leaves.
• Add rice and dal with 3 cups of water and salt. Cook it for 3 or 4 whistles.
• Let the steam go off and then open the cooker. Mix the contents nicely.
• Serve hot with white coconut. 
• PS: One can cook the rice and dal separately and the seasoning to it.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#65

Pavakkai kulambu / Bitter gourd Gravy

This one has surprised my North Indian friends as they had not heard of karela gravy. They mostly make stuffed karela or karela fried (chopped). Even our helping staff were taken aback when I made this gravy. My sister makes it often and it's liked by everyone at home. I followed her method and it turned out well. I do not make it very often as it involves a lot of tamarind and my hubby  is not very fond of it. But for those who like tangy and pungent taste would love it. Now for the recipe, made from home grown fresh organic karela!

INGREDIENTS TO GRIND :

• Onion sliced : 3 nos
• Chana dal : 1 and 1/2 tablespoons
• Coriander seeds : 2 tablespoons
• Cumin seeds : 1 teaspoon
• Red chillies : 3 or 4 nos
• Curry leaves : A few
• Coconut, grated : 1/2 cup
• Oil : 1 tablespoon

FOR SEASONING;

• Oil : 1 teaspoon
• Mustard seeds: 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry leaves : A few
• Sliced bitter gourd : 2 nos
• Turmeric powder: 1/4 teaspoon
• Salt to taste
• Tamarind juice : 1 and 1/2 cup
• Jaggery / sugar : 1 teaspoon

METHOD:

• Soak the tamarind (lemon size) in a cup of water. Squeeze out the juice from it.
• Slice the bitter gourd, remove the seeds and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan, fry red chillies and channa dal till golden brown.
• Now add sliced onions (I've used shallots)  coriander and cumin seeds and fry till they turn golden brown in colour. Add the curry leaves and give it a nice toss.  
• Remove from heat and add the coconut and let cool.
• Grind to a fine paste adding enough water.
• Heat oil for seasoning add mustard seeds. After it splutter add curry leaves and the bitter gourd, saute for a few minutes.
• Add the tamarind juice and a cup of water. Add turmeric powder, salt and sugar. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat and cook till the bitter gourd is nicely cooked.
• Now add the ground masala adjust salt and water and let it boil for a few more minutes.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with plain rice.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#65

Thakkali / Tomato kulambu

   This kulambu is the basic curry (with a little addition and subtraction) for most of the gravy items including non-veg in our homes. You can add most seasonal veggies to this curry to churn out lip-smacking dishes. So this is my obvious choice for the BM entry. Also, I'm posting the tomato version of it as my father likes this gravy with idlis and he is here visiting us. It goes very well with plain rice. One can serve this curry with rice and appadam (papad) for a change giving lentils a break. Believe me, everyone will welcome this change.So without much ado, straight to the recipe.

Ingredients:

• Tomatoes          - 5 nos
• Onions sliced     - 3nos
• Red chillies        - 2nos
• Coriander seeds- 1 tablespoon
• Cumin seeds     -1/2 teaspoon
• Black pepper -   5nos
• Chana dal -      1 tablespoon
• Grated coconut - 2 tablespoons
• Garlic   -           3 or 4 pods    
• Curry leaves - 2 springs
• Oil -                 1 tablespoon

For seasoning:

•  Oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves.

Method:

• Boil the tomatoes and keep aside to cool.   
• Fry chana dal,red chillies in oil for a minute.
• Add all the ingredients except tomatoes, coconut and the curry leaves and fry till the onions turn golden brown. Now add coconut and the curry leaves and switch off the gas, mix all the ingredients nicely. Let it cool.
• Grind the fried masala to a fine paste adding enough water. Now add the boiled tomatoes and run the mixer for a few minutes till the tomatoes are blended well with the masala. It should look like this -

• Heat a teaspoon of oil, add mustard seeds wait till it splutters then add some curry leaves. Now add the ground masala-tomato paste adding enough water to make running gravy. Add turmeric powder and salt to taste.
• Let it boil and cook for 4 to 5 minutes.
• Sprinkle coriander leaves and serve hot with idli, dosa or plain rice.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#65

Vegetable kurma

When Srivalli posted about BM#65 in the month of May, I was super excited. It was summer vacation and my father, sister and nephew were coming and a lot of cooking will be happening. My nephew, especially, is very fond of chapati and paranthas and will be cooking different types of curries(side dish) to go with it. So I thought I will be having many recipes to upload on my page and the BM. But to tell you the truth, it was not  that easy. Though I had prepared  many dishes, clicking photos was a problem for me. Many times I forgot to click pictures or in a hurry to serve food,  the pictures did not turn out good (lighting) etc. Thankfully, I managed to at least write my posts on time. This kurma is my nephew's favourite one. I was more than happy to make this as one can add as many vegetables as possible. Moreover, my li'l one also enjoyed eating in competition with my nephew.  Now for the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

• Mixed vegetables like potato, carrot, peas, cauliflower (peeled & cubed)- 1 to 1-1/2cup 

TO MAKE PASTE:

• Grated coconut - 3 tablespoons
• Cinnamon - 1" long
• Cardamom - 2
• Clove - 4
• Ginger -1" piece
• Poppy seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Saunf /fennel seeds- 1 teaspoon
• Roasted chana - 2 teaspoons
• Salt to taste

FOR SEASONING:

•  Oil - 1 teaspoon
• Bay leaf -1
• Black pepper  -5
• Onion sliced- 1 
• Tomato chopped -1
• Green chillies- 3 (slit)
• Turmeric powder - A pinch
• Whole garam masala- as per choice

METHOD:

• Cook the vegetables with salt and just enough water till they are soft.
• Grind all the ingredients under to make paste into a fine paste.
• Heat oil in a pan, add bay leaf and the whole garam masala and saute for a few seconds.
• Add onion and green chillies fry till the onion turns pink in colour.
• Add tomato and let it cook well. Now add the cooked vegetables, ground masala paste, turmeric powder. Mix them well adding enough water. Adjust salt and cook on a slow heat for 5 minutes.
• Remove and serve  hot with paranthas.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#65