Guava rice

Guava is such a great fruit, which is hardly seen here. I remember those childhood days, when we had a guava tree which gave enormous amount of fruits. We used to distribute them to all our friends in our neighborhood.  It is as sweet as sugar. I never knew the greatness of the fruit then as much we know now.

Recently, I heard from a relation to my husband was just saying about the recipe he made (70+ old man) was Guava rice. As he is a diabetic patient, he was sharing all the healthy recipes that he prepares to support his health. Since then I wanted to try this guava rice. And its almost 7months, only now I have this recipe ready for you.

Guava rice taste similar to coconut rice.  Since this rice is made to be part of healthy diet, I have included only such ingredients. You can modify, include more or exclude anything to suit your taste. But this recipe as such is just delectable.

Curry Leaves Rice

A variety rice for the days when we do not want to stick with the routine Sambar and Rasam. And these days I tend to be inclined to Curry leaves more. We are just enjoying the flavor that comes out of curry leaves and wonder how many simple recipes I make these days? As I told I was a person who keep the curry leaves at the corner of the plate.

Gone are those days, enjoying the flavors of the healthy herb, Curry Leaves. Try this recipe and try your variations, and alterations.

Bisibelabath & Simple potato fry

Tastes evolve, but certain classics stand the test of time. Why do certain dishes remain fixed on our menus (during occasions or get-together) for decades while others come and go? The answer is simple: they are unwaveringly, irresistibly good. What's more, by virtue of their staying power, they offer windows onto the eras in which they were born. 

One such dish is our Bisibela bath or Sambar Satham. All dishes have their unique flavors and taste although they can be altered to suit our palates. The flavors you see here will be unique without much masalas that are prepared in most of the Brahmin houses. 

This dish is authentic to Karnataka Cuisine, but when it came to chennai they were modified and altered more to suit our taste at home. We are going to see a very simple version of Bisibelabath. Lets hop in to the recipe,

Pori Urundai

Authentic recipe prepared only on the Karthigai Deepam day. They form a great snack for the kids too.
Aval Pori and Nell Pori are the two famous dishes prepared on the auspicious occasion of Thirukarthigai/Karthigaideepam.

Kashmiri Pulao

A fruity, nutty pulao which is colorful with a touch of saffron. This is such a fancy pulao from Northern Indian state of Kashmir.
This is loved by Sundar and Hasini in our home. And this became a happy Sunday meal.
I generally opt for a spicier versions of Pulao, but this is so great in its own style.
The natural flavor of the nuts with dry fruits & fresh fruits along with the aroma of the saffron milk, makes you to drool while you cook!

Venn Pongal

Pongal o Pongal! Pongal is a long way...not very long, but atleast we have some other festivals coming before. I do not wait for any occasion to prepare ven pongal. When my mouth waters for the dish, I make it! Its just my favorite at home, so no one else requests. Rather, Sundar asks for the sweet pongal!

Vegetable Pulao

Thank God its friday! Soon will be the weekend, which means relaxed cooking, and everything will go @ a slower place.
I just wonder how kids get to know so many things these days! My daughter is just 4 years, and resists taking the regular sambar or other south Indian food for her lunch. Yesterday, she informed me that she needs either a paneer pulao or a veg pulao for her lunch. She came to me and she says, "mommy, just give me only roti. I don't want pappu sadham (rice)". I thought, its time to change our cooking to what she likes, provided something healthy has to be packed.
I prepared veg. pulao for the two busy bees in our home. And the recipes goes here,

Purple Cabbage rice

Purple Cabbage, purple gobi, and purple potatoes, they fascinate me a lot…purple being my favorite color. These are something you don’t see often in India, so the first time I came across them I was quite taken aback.
A friend of mine suggested they tasted similar. So this time I thought I can pick a purple cabbage.

You can make this rice using White Cabbage too, the taste remains the same. But there is something about the flecks of purple running through this green aromatic rice which is not only a visual treat but one for the taste buds too.

You need:

shredded Purple Cabbage - 2 cups
Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp
Chana Dal - 1/2 tsp
Few curry leaves
onion, sliced - 1

To grind into a paste:

cloves - 3
piece Cinnamon - 1/2
Green chillies - 6
cloves Garlic - 2
piece Ginger - 1"
A Handful cilantro

1 Cup Basmati Rice, washed and cooked in 1.5 cups water

Heat the oil in a deep pan. Add the mustard seeds and when it begins to splutter, add the urad and chana dals. Add the curry leaves and onions, sauté until done. Add the shredded cabbage and cook for 5-6 minutes until soft. Now add the prepared paste and sauté for a minute until fragrant. Season with salt and add the cooked rice. Combine well and serve hot with a cucumber raitha.

You can increase the number of green chillies if you like your rice to be spicier. And I added corn and paneer for my daughter and her rice would be more cooked to her taste.

Capsicum Pulao

Capsicum is a vegetable that makes our kitchen shelves and refrigerators colorful. They are made available in a wide range of range of colors such as green, red, or yellow. Capsicum is called by different names in different places as chilil pepper, bell pepper, red or green pepper. This is widely used as spice, medicine and of course a vegetable. It tastes great when mixed with curries. I even like it in my sambar or raita. And now I wanted to try it as a main course in pulao.
Sundar does not like it in sambar, but I add with other veggies in sambar. The pepper has the special quality that it aids the taste of the other vegetables to which it is added.

Basmati rice - 2 cups
Green Capsicum - 3 (cut length wise)
Red capsicum - 1 (cut length wise)
Onion chopped - 1 cut length wise
Carrot - 1 cut length wise
peas - 1/4 cup
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Green chillies slit opened - 4 to 6
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves chopped
Salt
Oil to sauteWash the Basmathi rice and keep it aside. Heat oil in a skillet, add the onions and saute for a while. Once onions are golden brown then add the ginger garlic paste and the green chillies. Saute until aroma comes. Now add the peppers and saute for a while. Then add the carrots, peas and the spices. Saute until they are half cooked.
Cook the rice in the electric cooker. Make sure they are half cooked or even lesser to that. Now add the saute spiced pepper. Toss them gently and add salt as much required. Cook it for a up to 3 whistles (if you are cooking in pressure cooker). Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and add lime juice if required.

Serve hot with any type of raithas or even with hot ketchup.

Methi Pulao with raita

Methi is the most used herb in our house now. Coriander is my most favorite herb in all that I cook. Although Coriander is frequently used in our house, I still try to make something interesting from Methi leaves, I came across Methi Pulao in a cook book and I wanted to try.
This is a very simple recipe, you can try when there is little time to plan for a pulao. Or when there are unexpected guest.

You need
Basmati Rice - 1 Cup
Methi (fenugreek) leaves - 1 ½ cups
Ginger Garlic paste - 2 tsp
Onions, thinly sliced - 2
Tomatoes cubed - 3
fresh/frozen peas - ½ cup
Corriander powder - 2 tbsp
Cumin powder - 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 2tsp
Kasuri Methi (Dried Fenugreek),crushed - 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Lemon juice - 2 tsp
Oil - ¼ Cup
Water - 1 ½ cups

Heat oil in a skillet. Add the thinly sliced onions and saute till transparent and soft. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute. Now add the washed methi leaves and saute for 3-4 minutes, till the methi leaves are fragrant. Once the methi leaves are done, add the tomatoes, and cook till soft. Add the coriander, cumin and chilli powders, fry for a minute. Have this in the cooker, and add water and close the lid. Increase heat to high and when the steam begins to rise, lower heat and open lid slowly. Add the washed Basmati rice. Stir in lemon juice, kasuri methi and salt to taste. Close with lid and turn heat to high. When the steam begins to rise, place weight on the lid and lower heat. Cook for 10 minutes and then turn off heat. Mix well before serving hot with a cucumber raitha.

This was prepared with the intention to be simple and for less time consuming. Otherwise, you can add carrot and beans in less quantities and adjust the spices accordingly. I prefer to eat the methi pulao with just the taste of methi leaves.

Puliogare

Puliogare is all time favorite variety rice for almost all of us. Each of us have our style of preparing. And every recipe tastes great only for this type of rice. Just the combination of chilli with tamarind paste and seasoned with salt tastes great. Other additions to it make it just wonderful, and sometimes wonderful for many days to store them!

You need

4 tsp Puliyogare paste with the oil (recipe follows)

1 tsp roasted coriander powder

1/4 tsp roasted fenugreek seeds

few curry leaves

1/4 cup roasted peanuts

Then to it add the powdered mixture, roasted pea nuts, roasted curry leaves and roasted cashews(optional). Check for salt and add if required. Serve this with nice Sabudana vadam or papad or even potato chips goes great with it.

This can be served with cucumber raita. Chop a cucumber and to it add a cup of yogurt. Tamper Mustard seeds with a spoon of oil and add to the raita. Season with salt and serve with Tamarind rice.

For Puliyogare paste

You need

1 Big lemon size tamarind

10-15 dry red chilies powdered

2 cups water

1/2 cup sesame oil

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

For Tampering

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Urad dhal

11/2 tsp Channa dhal

2 tsp oil

few curry leaves

Tamper the mustard and then add the dhal and saute till golden brown. Add the curry leaves - very little. As I always store the Puliyogare for more days. To this add the tamarind, turmeric powder and powdered red chillies. Add water and let cook for about an hour or until the raw taste goes off. While cooking slowly add the sesame oil. Add the oil little by little. If you do not intend to store the puliyogare for more days, then you can reduce the amount of oil.

Cool it and store in an air tight container for 1 month or two