Paneer Kofta Curry

  

I tried this first time when my in-laws had come home; they were leaving for a pilgrimage from here. I thought of making something special and this delectable dish occurred to me. I browsed for recipe from website and gave it a very brave attempt.  It turned out well and each of us like it very much. It was a bit heavy though as I had made kulchas with them.

Ingredients:

For Koftas:

             1.   Paneer – 1 cup grated
2.       Potato – ¾ cup boiled and mashed
3.       Corn flour – 1 tbsp
4.       Green chili – 1 finely chopped
5.       Aniseeds – ¼ tsp
6.       Salt -1 tsp
7.       Oil for frying
For Gravy:
1.       Tomato – 3
2.       Green chillies – 2
3.       Ginger – 2’’ piece
4.       Garlic – 4 cloves
5.       Onion – 2
6.       Cashews – 10, soaked in water for 30 min
7.       Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
8.       Salt as per taste
9.       Oil – 2 tbsp
10.   Asafoetida – 1 pinch
11.   Turmeric – 1 pinch
12.   Chilli powder – 1 tsp
13.   Garam masala – 1 tsp
14.   Coriander – 2 tbsp finely chopped
15.   Fresh cream – 2 tbsp

Method:

Step 1: Mix all the ingredients for kofta except the oil and make soft dough.  Check and adjust for salt and spices; now roll them into small balls until all dough is done. Remember on frying the kofts would swell a little.

Step 2: Now heat oil in a non-stick pan and either deep fry or shallow fry the koftas, either ways they won’t absorb much oil. Add more corn flour to the dough if kofta is oily and soggy, else continue with the rest.

Step 3: In a mixer take roughly chopped tomatoes, onions, green chilli, ginger, garlic, cashew nuts and grind to very smooth paste.

Step 4: Heat oil in the same kadai that you fried koftas (in case you deep fried transfer oil elsewhere retaining 2 tbsp in it), add asafoetida and cumin seeds. Add the masala paste and cover with a lid of 5 minutes stirring occasionally.

 Step 5: Now add chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and sauté until the raw smell goes off and oil starts to separate. This might take some 5 more minutes.

Step 6: Now pour in 2 cups of water and add salt. Mix and cover the lid till the gravy thickens, then add the koftas into it and switch of stove.

Step 7: Top it with fresh cream and chopped coriander. Serve hot with any Indian bread of your choice. 

Cabbage Pulao

Cabbage gets a big No-No at my mother-in-law's home; yet I am very fond of my mom's cabbage porrial that I can gorge on a big bowl of it at once. And knowing few of its enormous health benefits like, it gives us healthy intestine, it has got antibacterial & antiviral properties and not to mention that it is widely used for obesity treatment. I personally adore this vegetable for it is very easy to cut, cook, eat and are available in all seasons and are also have culinary versatility as in, we can make south Indian, north Indian, Chinese,  and most other continental dishes. People don't like cabbage for its smell but pulao overrides this factor, so I attempted cabbage pulao and was honestly good.

Ingredients:

1. Cabbage - 1 small (I used red cabbage this time)
2. Onion - 1 large
3. Basmati rice - 1 cup
4. Water - 1 1/2 cups
5. Ghee/ Oil - 2 tbsp
6. Salt to taste
7. Green chili paste - 1/2 tbsp
8. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
9. Cinnamon - 1" piece
10. Bay leaf - 1
11. Coriander leaves to garnish.

Method:

Step 1: Wash and soak the basmati rice for 15 minutes.
Step 2: Chop theonion into thin half circles and chop the cabbage.
Step 3: Heat oil or ghee in the pressure cooker, crackle cumin seeds in it, drop in cinnamon & bay leaf and then add the sliced onion and saute until it becomesnice brown.
Step 4: Add green chili paste, salt and then drain soaked rice and add it to the masala. Roast until spices seep into the rice.
Step 5: Pour water required for the rice to cook and close lid, let a couple of whistles come and turn off the heat.
Step 6: Once the pressure subsides, open and enjoy a wonderful aroma, garnish with chopped coriander and raita to accompany.

Bread Halwa

There are several versions of bread halwa and all of them are very yummy. You can make them with bread crumbs or dry breads or with deep fried bread pieces; use less ghee or more; use milk or not; it turns out differently with these variations yet very tasty. It's a handy recipe for quick desserts.

 

Serves: 5 scoops 

Preparation Time: Nil

Cooking Time: 15 min

Ingredients: 

1.     Bread crumbs – 1 cup

2.     Milk – 1 cup

3.     Sugar – ½ cup

4.     Cardamom powder – ¼ tsp

5.     Ghee – 2 tbsp

              6.     Cashew – 2 tbsp

Method:

Step 1: In a non-stick pan, heat 1 tbsp of ghee and roast cashews in it. Drain cashews and fry the bread crumbs in that.

Step 2: Add milk to this and simmer the heat; stir occasionally to avoid burning and once the milk is absorbed, add sugar and stir.

Step 3: Now add cardamom powder and 1 tbsp ghee and stir until sides of the pan are clean.

Step 4: Garnish with roasted nuts and serve hot. It is good when chilled as well.

Apple Sauce

Last week I happened to take some antibiotics due to which I had a bad stomach. I was starving and  foraging for some diet for such condition and came across what seemed to be an universal belief, BARB diet; (Bread, Apple Sauce, Rice, Banana). I was curious to try this apple sauce and did so. Believe me it was yum, indeed.

Ingredients:

1. Apples - 3
2. Sugar - 1/2 cup (I used jaggery)
3. Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
4. Lemon - 1
5. Water - 1/2 cup

Method:

Step 1: Wash, peel and core the apples. Cut them into wedges
Step 2: In a non stick pan, add apple wedges, jaggery/sugar, juice of a lemon (adjust depending on the sourness of the apples), cinnamon powder and water
Step 3: Mix well and heat on low flame until the apple is soft to be mashed
Step 4: Switch of the stove; with the help of a potato masher, mash the apple nicely or with some chunks if you prefer
Step 5: Serve it hot or warm or cold. In refrigerator it can stay for a week. (We finished in a couple of days though)

Paanagam

Paanagam is a cooling drink that is had during summers and my grandma used to tell that this was, in the olden served as welcome drink during a wedding ceremony called ‘samandham kalandhal’ which is when the families agree upon an alliance and step forward. It is very simple to make and quite refreshing.

Ingredients:

1.       Jaggery – 1 cup

2.       Cardamom powder – 1 tsp

3.       Dry ginger powder – 1 tsp

4.       Lemon – 1

5.       Salt – 1 pinch

6.       Tulsi – 10-15 leaves

7.       Water – 1 litre

Method:

Step 1:  Dissolve jaggery in water and filter to remove debris in it.

Step 2:  Now add salt, cardamom powder, dry ginger powder, juice of a lemon, crushed tulsi leaves and mix well

Step 3: Refrigerate and serve chilled. Avoid adding ice cubes as it may dilute the taste.

Yoghurt Tikki

It was the first ever time we had invited people for lunch at home and our invitees turned out to be babu anna and family. It was a quite a thrilling experience for both us to prepare proper lunch for some eight people including us. I planned for an elaborate menu with every possible course I knew but skipped some due to lack of time. Yoghurt tikki was the starter I chose that day and our guests seemed to like it. I made a mistake when I prepared but given a bettered version here.

Ingredients:

1.          Paneer – 1 cup grated

2.          Yoghurt (Hung curds) – 1 cup

3.          Onion – ½ cup finely chopped

4.          Ginger – 1 tsp finely grated

5.          Salt as per taste

6.          Cumin powder – ½ tsp

7.          Green chillies paste – ½ tbsp

8.          Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp finely chopped

9.          Oats powdered–  5 to 8 tbsp

10.     Butter – 1 tbsp

11.     Oil for shallow frying

Method:

Step 1: In a deep tawa heat butter and sauté chopped onion and ginger

Step 2: Mix crumbled panner, yoghurt, onion-ginger, salt, cumin powder, green chili paste, coriander and make a soft dough.

Step 3: Divide the dough into lemon sized portions and pat each of them in your palm into tikkis. Place it on the plate spread with powdered oats and flip to cover on both sides. Repeat for all tikkis.

Step 4: In the tawa,  add some oil and shallow fry the tikkis until both sides are brown and crusty. Yoghurt tikkis are crispy on the outside and soft inside.

Step 5: Serve hot with ketchup or green chutney.

Yoghurt Shrikand

These days we hear a lot about yogurt desserts replacing ice-creams for the health reason. Not only are they healthy but these are also relatively easy to prepare at home, in fact even instantly or an hour before serving unlike ice creams or kulfis.

Ingredients:

1.       Curd – 2 cups (Yogurt if available)

2.       Sugar – 4 tbsp

3.       Fruit of your choice – ½ cup chopped (Mango and strawberry are my favorites)

4.       Chopped fruits to garnish

Method:

Step 1: If you are using curds, drain it in a muslin cloth; tie and hang it in the sink faucet for 1 hour or more.

Step 2: Powder the sugar if you are using sugar granules in a mixer and then in the same jar add chopped fruits and puree it, now scoop in the hung curds or the homemade yoghurt and whip one last time.

Step 3: Divide in the serving bowls and chill it.

Step 4: Garnish with pomegranate beads before serving.

TIPS:

·         There is a lot of room for creativity with this dessert. You can just play with available and favorite flavours.
·         I have also tried with paneer and some milk instead of yogurt.

Soy Dahi Vada

Once my sister told that we can add quarter portion of soy beans and three quarter of urad while preparing idli batter. I tried and that turned out well. While doing it I found the soy batter very fluffy and smooth as urad batter; so it occurred to me why can't we try medhu vada using only soy batter. Then on a fine day I had occasion to make vadas and I wanted to give my idea a try. However, when I fried the vadas (they were good enough) I thought why shouldn't I steam them instead and make dahi vadas. That's the story of my soy dahi vadas.

Ingredients:

1. Soy beans -1 cup

2. Salt to taste

3. Crushed pepper - 1 tsp

4. Baking soda - 1/4 tsp

5. Curd - 2 cups 

6. Sugar - 1 tbsp

7. Cumin powder - 2 tsp

8. Chili powder - 2 tsp

9. Green chutney : Grind together fresh coriander, mint, green chili, juice of lemon and some salt.

10. Sweet chutney: Boil tamarind pulp, jaggery, a pinch of salt and cool it.

Method:

Step 1: Wash and soak the soy beans overnight. 

Step 2: Drain the water and Grind it in a mixer finely with minimum water required to a vada batter consistency.

Step 3: Take the ground beans in a bowl, add salt crushed pepper and mix well. 

Step 4: Keep the steamer or idly cooker on heat; grease idly plates; now add baking soda in the batter, mix well and ladle them into idly plates and steam for 5-7 minutes as you do for idlies. 

Step 5: Ensure if it is well cooked and let it cool before taking them out. I made big ones so cut them into four; you can either cut them or make small sized vadas.

Step 6: Take chilled thick curds and beat it very smoothly; add salt, sugar and cumin powder and mix well and keep aside.

Step 7: Now for dressing the dahi vadas; Spread the vadas on serving plate, pour prepared curd over the vadas, drizzle green chutney (Don't look into my pic for green chutney, I didn't have coriander and so skipped it ;)) & sweet chutney, sprinkle chili powder and cumin powder over the dahi vada and serve.

TIPS:

* The vadas would be hard if soda is less. In such case, dip the steamed vadas in warm water and squeeze out before preparing. Also you can soak the vadas in portion of the prepared curds and pour the rest of it while serving.

Sprouts Salad

Sprouts salad is a very nutritious one that can be had as breakfast or healthy snack or starter or even as spicy chat. 

Ingredients:

1. Tomato - 1/2 cup finely chopped

2. Orange - 1/2 cup chopped (Can be replaced by pomegranate beads)

3. Onion - 1/3 cup finely chopped

4. Green gram sprouts - 1 cup 

5. Lemon juice - 1 tbsp

6. Salt to taste

7. Pepper to taste (Can add finely chopped green chilies if you want)

8. Italian seasoning - 1/4 tsp (Optional)

9. Ginger juice - 1 tsp

10. Olive oil - 2 tbsp
11. Coriander or mint leaves - 1 tsp finely chopped

Method:

Step 1: Steam or blanch the sprouts with little salt and let it cool.

Step 2: Take all the listed ingredients from 5-10 in a small cup and mix well.

Step 3: In a large bowl, add the tomato, orange/ pomegranate, onion, sprouts and pour the dressing on top of it.

Step 3: Add coriander/ mint leaves, toss well and serve immediately.

TIPS:
* You can add roasted and salted peanuts to the salad to add nutrition and crunch
* You can serve it as a salad or can also serve it as a topping on roasted papad which is your masala papad or can also layer it between breads to get your tasty nutritious sandwich.

Roasted Squash Soup

Both my husband and I are not great fans of pumpkin or the acorn squash, but I don't like to avoid any vegetable for lack of our liking because every other vegetable is unique in nutrients and taste. Luckily, any vegetable is passable for both of us in form of soups or stews; so here comes the creamy squash soup.

Ingredients:

1. Squash - 1 wedge

2. Milk - 1/2 cup

3. Cumin powder - 1/4 tsp

4. Nutmeg - 1 pinch grated

5. Salt to taste

6. Pepper to taste

7. Olive oil - 1 tbsp

8. Pumpkin seeds - 1 tbsp

Method:

Step 1: In a non-stick pan, take olive oil and saute the roughly chopped squash in medium heat until they are roast and soft

Step 2: Let it cool and then blend it smoothly with milk.

Step 3: Bring it back to the same pan and heat on low flame.

Step 4: Sprinkle cumin powder, nutmeg grated, salt, pepper and mix well.

Step 5: Pour into soup bowls, top with crispy salted pumpkin seeds and serve immediately. This is another soup that you can have the temperature you like piping hot or warm or cold.

Uppurundai

Uppurundai is another signature dish of my mother-in-law, I've never had it anywhere else and even after trials we did not succeed in making them as good as her's. As a recipe it is plain and simple, it is just the knack we need to get. For those people who plan and execute all the wet grinder batches (for idlis, kanjeepuram idly, dosas, appams, etc) in one day of a week, this can be tried as another small batch for that evening's snack or dinner. 

Serves:

Preparation Time: 5 min (Soaking time is 2 hours)

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1.       Idly rice – 2 cups

2.       Salt as per taste

3.       Oil – 3 tbsp

4.       Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

5.       Urad dal – 1 tbsp

6.       Channa dal – 1 tbsp

7.       Curry leaves – 1 sprig

8.       Dry chilies – 3

9.       Asafoetida – 1 pinch

Method:

Step 1: Wash and soak the rice for 2 hours. Grind it smoothly with some water and mix required salt.

Step 2: In a heavy bottomed pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil, sprinkle asafoetida, splutter mustard seeds, add urad & channa dals, thrown in curry leaves & broken chilies and add the rice batter into it.

Step 3: Stir continously until it becomes thick and gooey. Turn off heat and make lemon sized balls out of the mass while it is still hot.

Step 4: Steam the rice balls for 5 minutes and serve hot as is or with idly podi.

Payathamparuppu Ukkali

Ukkali is a traditional sweet that tamil people used to prepare for important occasions like when a marriage alliance is fixed and mainly for Karthigai deepam. The original version of ukkali is made with rice, jaggery and lots of oil. I had prepared a simple yet tasty and healthy version of ukkali which my amma had taught when I had guests at home sometime back.

Serves: 4

Preparation Time: 15 minutes (Excludes soaking time)

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1. Moong dal - 2 cup

2. Salt - 1 pinch

3. Baking soda - 1 tsp

4. Oil - 1 tbsp

5. Ghee - 1 tbsp

6. Sugar - 2 cup

7. Cashew - 2 tbsp

8. Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Method:

Step 1: Wash and soak the moong dal for 2 hours. Grind with minimum water into a smooth paste.

 Step 2: Mix oil, baking soda, salt and mix well. Pour into idly plates and steam cook them for 5-10 minutes.

 Step 3: Let the idlies cool down to normal temperature. Then break them into small pieces and whip them in a dry mixer jar few times not doing for more than two seconds per trip. You'll get a soft powdery consistency now. Repeat for all idlis and collect them in a bowl.

Step 4: Heat ghee, fry broken cashews and take the cashews in a bowl. 

Step 5: Add powdered sugar (my mom uses sugar crystals but I powder it), crushed dal idlies, cardamom powder and mix gently in low heat for not more than 2 minutes else they'll form halwa.

Step 6: Garnish with fried cashew nuts and serve warm.

Sola Adai

To my knowledge, sola adai is a recipe that I got from some blog while randomly browsing and I could not get that blog again. Solam or jowar is grown extensively in Coimbatore and Dindigal districts of tamil nadu and I founf this from a tamil blog, so I just assume it is originated here. Strange thing about sola adai is that, it is shaped like vada yet thinner that vadas and but is very crisp and crunchy until center. This is quite simple to make and is full of flavor and can be stored for a couple of days.

Ingredients:

1.       Jowar – 1 cup

2.       Onion chopped – 1 cup

3.       Green chilies – 2 finely chopped

4.       Coriander chopped - 1 tbsp 

5.       Rice flour – 2 tbsp

6.       Salt to taste

7.       Oil for deep frying

Method:

Step 1: Wash and soak the jowar overnight.

Step 2: Grind the soaked jowar in a mixer coarsely. Do not add water.

Step 3: Take the ground jowar , add salt, rice flour, chopped onion, green chilies, coriander and mix well.

Step 4: Heat oil in a deep kadai; and in parallel shape adais.

Step 5: Pat a small portion of the batter into thin 4” circles with a hole in the centre. Wipe hands with water in between to avoid the batter sticking to hands.

Step 6: Drop the adai in the hot oil and flip both sides to get it uniform golden brown colour. Repeat until the batter is finished. The adais should be thin, crisp and brown.

Maravallikizhangu/ Tapioca Dosa

We can see tapioca sold on the roadsides in the market place or in the highways adjacent to the fields, in Tamilnadu; at least I have not seen them fancily packed and displayed in departmental stores here, as they are cheap and neither do they pay-off for the space occupied nor do have many takers. I have heard from my paternal grandpa that tapioca is consumed by villagers/ farmers during the famine period as a survival nutrient; may be that's why people in north eat it on fasting days. These days, not many recipes are very popular even though they make tasty and healthy dishes. Tapioca dosa one such recipe that I would like to share here.

Ingredients:

1. Tapioca - 1

2. Idli rice - 1 cup

3. Dry chilies - 2

4. Salt to taste

5. Asafoetida - 1 pinch

6. Oil - 1 tbsp

7. Mustard seeds -1 tsp

8. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

9. Urad dal - 1 tbsp

10. Curry leaves - 1 sprig

11. Onion - 1 finely chopped

12. Coriander - 2 tbsp finely chopped

Method:

Step 1: Wash and soak the rice for about 3 hours. Grind it coarsely in a mixer with salt and dry chilies.

Step 2: Peel and grate the tapioca finely and mix with the ground batter.

Step 3: Prepare the tempering before preparing; heat oil, splutter mustard seeds & cumin seeds, sprinkle asafoetida, add urad dal, curry leaves and saute onion in that for just 2 minutes.

Step 4: Mix the tempering in the dosa batter, adjust salt and consistency.

Step 5: Heat the greased dosa tawa, pour a ladle of batter and spread with the back of the ladle into a circular shape. Drizzle few drops of oil on it and cover.

Step 6: Flip to the other side when one side is browned, do not cover on the flip side to retain crispness.

Step 7: Serve hot with any chutney or idli podi.

TIPS:

* Tapioca can be chopped and ground along with the rice to escape from painful task of grating finely and to do it quick.

* If you want to make it instant, rice flour can be used instead of wet grinding but there is a little compromise on taste and texture this way.

* Adjust consistency to make thin crisp ones or thick soft ones.

Dal Dhokli

There is nothing comparable to having steaming hot dal dhokli for dinner on a cool rainy evening. This is a one pot meal with packed nutrition. Though this is a proper Gujarati recipe we learnt it from our neighbor who is from west bengal; kudos to national diversity cum integration. Thank you Urmila aunt for introducing this wonderful recipe to us, amma had made it a custom to make dal dhokli on rainy days. It can be described as a parallel dish to south Indian sambar-idli in which, bite sized idlis float in sambar; in dal dhokli bite sized rotis float in dal. Believe me, it is so ecstatic for rainy day dinners.

  

Serves: 2-3

Preparation Time: 15 min

Cooking Time: 30 min

Ingredients:

1.                  Tuvar dal – 1 cup

2.                Channa dal – 2 tbsp

3.                Groundnuts – 2 tbsp

4.                Moong dal with skin – 4 tbsp

5.                 Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

6.                Cumin – ½ tsp

7.                 Tomatoes - 3

8.                Chili powder – 1 tsp

9.                Coriander chopped – 2 tbsp

10.            Garam masala – 1 tsp

11.              Asafoetida – 1 pinch

12.            Wheat flour – ½ cup

13.            Gram flour – ½ cup

14.            Oil – 1 tbsp

15.             Ajwain – ¼ tsp

16.            Ghee – 3 tbsp

                   17.     Salt as per taste

Method:

Step 1: Wash all the pulses together and pressure cook them with turmeric until mushy.

Step 2: Take wheat flour, gram flour, salt, some chili powder, a pinch of asafoetida, some garam masala, 1 tbsp ghee in a bowl and knead to get a soft dough.

Step 3: Heat 1 tbsp oil in a heavy bottomed pan, sprinkle asafoetida and splutter cumin seeds and sprinkle asafoetida in that. Now, add tomatoes and sauté for 2 minutes and then add the cooked pulses.

Step 4: Add about 4 cups of water and let it boil in simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in salt, red chili powder and garam masala. Stir occasionally to avoid burning at the bottom.

Step 5: Roll the dough into large circles slightly thicker than rotis. Cut them into small 2“ squares or diamond shapes.

Step 6: Drop the dhoklis one by one in the dal while it is boiling making sure they don’t stick to each other.  If it is too thick, add some water, adjust salt and spices and let it cook in low heat for another 15 minutes or until the dhoklis are cooked.

Step 7: When done, turn off heat and mix coriander.

Step 8: Serve the dal dhokli in a soup bowl, squeeze few drops of lemon juice and drizzle generous drops of ghee and relish it when hot.

 TIPS:

* Amma added moong dal with husk to the recipe and I added groundnuts as it seems to be a common ingredient added in Gujarati recipe of dal dhokli.

Kuzhi Paniyaram

This is a very simple-to-do and appealing dish by looks and taste. Conventionally kuzhipaniyaram (called paddu in karnataka) is made of left over idly/ dosa batter; leftover, because it turns sour in time and this dish requires more sourness. My amma and I prepare it with added finely chopped vegetables (carrots, peas, corn kernels, and the like) to make it healthy and colourfull; however, its basic version is so yum which I have shared below.

Ingredients:

1. Idly/ Dosa batter - 3 cups
2. Onion - 1 large, finely chopped
3. Green chilies - 2
4. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
5. Ginger - 1" size, finely grated
6. Oil - 2 tbsp
7. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
8. Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
9. Asafoetida - 1 pinch
10. Bengal gram - 1 tbsp
11. Urad dal - 1 tbsp
12. Salt to taste
13. Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp chopped
14. Vegetables - 1 cup finely diced (Optional)

Method:

Step 1: Take the idly/ dosa batter and let it ferment a bit to get sour in case it isn't.

Step 2: Heat oil in a pan,  splutter mustard seeds & cumin seeds, add bengal gram & urad dal, add chopped curry leaves & green chilies, sprinkle asafoetida, add the chopped onion and saute until it is translucent. Add required salt.

Step 3: This step is, if you plan to add vegetables. Add vegetables and saute until half done as it may be cooked again with batter. I personally feel adding vegetables is just to add the nutritional value and look of the dish; taste-wise it is softened instead of crispy and sweetened slightly which is not how the dish tastes. Sprinkle necessary salt.

Step 4: Now add this with the batter and mix well. 

Step 5: Heat kuzhiyappakal, add few drops of oil in each kuzhi  and pour batter in each of them; simmer the heat for say 3 minutes.

Step 6: Check for browned surface and flip each of them and sprinkle little oil. Brown both the surfaces and take them in a plate using fork or pin provided with kuzhiyappakal.

Step 7: Serve hot with coconut chutney or sambar. My granny prefers to have it with rasam; and my husband has it with idly podi and curds.

Fenugreek Rice

Fenugreek is cherished as one of the power houses in Ayurvedha and is very cooling to the body. I always  struggle to find recipes to add some fenugreek and I would say fenugreek-rice is came as a wonderful recipe. So this is nice for people who do not like fenugreek and of course, for others it is a treat. My aunt is so fond of this that she already publicized the recipe in her entire circle all by word of mouth.

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 10 Minutes

Cooking Time: 30 Minutes

Ingredients:

1.       Steamed rice – 2 cups

2.       Fenugreek – 2 tbsp

3.       Coconut – 2” piece

4.       Green chilies – 2

5.       Salt to taste

6.       Oil – 2 tbsp

7.       Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

8.       Turmeric powder – 1 pinch

9.       Urad dal – 1 tbsp

10.   Curry leaves – 1 sprig

11.   Asafoetida -1 pinch

                  12.   Dry chili – 1

Method:

Step 1: There are 3 ways you can prepare the fenugreek; 1. Soak them overnight, 2. Sprout them after soaking, 3. Directly use cooked fenugreek. The prepared fenugreek would be about ¼ cup.

Step 2: Char the coconut piece and green chilies and grinder them together in a mixer jar.

Step 3:  Heat oil in a non-stick pan, splutter mustard seeds, sprinkle asafoetida & turmeric, add urad dal, thrown in curry leaves and chili and add the fenugreek. Add some salt and sauté until it is done.

Step 4: Add the ground coconut mix and saute for a minute.

Step 5: Add the steamed rice along with required salt and mix gently to smear the entire rice with with masala.

Step 6: Adjust salt and serve with curds or papad.