Vegetable Fried Rice

If I were to list out my top ten favourite foods, fried rice would definitely figure quite high on that list. Special favourites like this and ulli sambar were usually made by my mother on Sundays so that we could all sit together and enjoy the food. I usually end up making it when I am stumped for ideas on what to make or low on time and high on hunger.

What you need:
Basmati rice - 1 cup (washed and soaked in water for 30 minutes)
Cardamom - 4 pods
Clove - 5
Cinnamon - a small piece
Star anise - 2
Pepper corns - 1/4 tsp
Chopped vegetables - 3/4 cup (use a mix of beans, carrot, cauliflower, peas, potato and beets)
Green chilli - 3 or 4 (adjust to taste), minced
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Ghee - 6 tsp

Heat a tsp of ghee and fry all the spices in it until fragrant. Let it cool and then grind to a fine powder.
Drain water from the rice and then fry it in a tsp of ghee until it loses all the moisture and turns creamish in colour.
Heat the rest of the ghee, add the powdered spices, green chillies,chopped veggies, and turmeric powder. Stir fry for a few minutes. Transfer all the ingredients to a pressure cooker, add 1.5 cups of water, required amount of salt and cook until one whistle.
Enjoy with raita and papad.

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Chole-Bature

Asalam-wa-lekum!!!...sorry guys im unable to post regularly these days...i m hardly finding time for blogging these days,today we had a small snack party in our apartment,i have a group of 5 hyderabadi friends here.We meet up daily..thought lets make chole bature today as an evening snack...i made the chole n we all made the bature.This is my mom's recipe..its a must try u will simply love it...thank u everyone for all ur comments...i do keep checking my blog whenever i m free...thanks for lifting up my spirits...
INGREDIENTS:

1. Kabuli chana 1 cup(soaked for 6-8 hours)


2. Potatoes 2big(boiled and mashed)


3. Onions 2large(grinded)


4. Ginger-Garlic paste 2Tspns


5. Tomatoes 3big


6. Green chilles 6-8


7. Red chilli powder 2Tspns


8. Turmeric powder 1/4th Tspn


9. Garam masala 1Tspn


10. Coriander powder 1Tspn


11. Cumin(zeera) powder 1/2Tspn


12. Chole masala(any brand)


13. Curry leaves few


14. Coriander/Cilantro leaves 1bunch


15. Loung (2-3),Dalchini(1 inch)


16. Tamarind (handful-soak,stain and keep the pulp ready)


17. Oil for cooking


18. Salt to taste

METHOD

• Pressure cook kabuli chana for 10minutes(u can also add potatoes to it) and keep aside.


• Heat oil in a vessel and add loung and dalchini , also add grinded onions and fry till golden brown in colour.


• Add slitted green chillies along with curry leaves.


• Now add ginger-garlic paste fry for about 2 minutes.


• Add tomatoes and let then condense a bit.


• Now add the cooked kabuli chana n potatoes along with salt,turmeric powder,red chilli powder,garam masala,coriander powder,cumin powder and chole masala.


• Add tamarind pulp and cook for 5-10minutes.Lastly add cilantro and serve along with baturas.

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Aloo Gobi Curry

Ingredients
Aloo
Gobi florets
Onion, chopped into big pieces - 1 or 2
Tomato - 1 or 2
ginger garlic crushed/paste - 1/2 table spoon
Oil - 4-5 table spoons
Red chilli powder - add it according to your taste
Garam Masala - 1 table spoon
Kasoori Methi - a pinch
Coriander powder (optional) - 1/2 table spoon
Salt to taste
Kothimeeru (Coriander) to sprinkle at last.

Method of preparation
1. Take a vessel, add oil to it. Let it heat up and add cumin seeds to it. Add chopped onions, crushed ginger garlic or paste and let it fry for a minute or until onions turn golden brown.

2. Add Aloo and Gobi to it with pinch of turmeric, red chilli powder, Garam masala and let it stand for 5 minutes covered. Try to mix in between so that the curry do not stick to the pot/vessel. If you feel it starts sticking then add 1/2 cup of water to it.

3. Add chopped Tomato's, Salt, kasoori methi, coriander powder and mix well. Add little water and let it stand for some more time until all veggies are cooked.

4. Add Chopped and washed Coriander leaves to the curry and serve hot either with roti or rice.

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Spring Onion Tomato Dal

This is one of my favourite. I never forget to get spring onions when I go for grocery shopping. Here is the recipe for it.

Ingredients:

Spring Onions chopped - 1 cup
Tomato - 1 medium
Turmeric - a pinch
Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
Red chilli powder - 1 table spoon or
Green chillies - 2
Jeera(Cumin Seeds) - 1 table spoon
Tamarind/Tamarind paste - small piece for sour taste or 1/2 table spoon (Optional)
Garlic cloves chopped - 2 (Optional)
Oil for tadka
Salt to taste

Method of Preparation:

1. Cook dal in your way after adding a pinch of turmeric and cumin seeds, tamarind piece (optional) and tomato also.
2. Take a vessel, add oil to it. After oil is heated add garlic (optional), green chillies. Then add the chopped and cleaned spring onions to it.
3. Let the spring onions be lightly fried. If we add dal before the spring onions are fried, the raw smell remains intact and does not go away. After the spring onions are fried, add the dal.
4. Then add salt, red chilli powder (if needed), stir it. After it is mixed thoroughly , your dal is ready to serve and eat.

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Karthigai pori

What you need:
Pori (puffed rice flakes) - 4 cups
Jaggery - 1 cup
Water - 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Thin slivers of fresh coconut - 1/3 cup

Remove the husk, if any, from the pori. Take jaggery in a heavy bottomed vessel. Add water and heat over a medium flame until completely melted and then stir intermittently until it reaches a soft ball consistency. To check if it has reached this consistency, drop a little bit of the jaggery into a bowl of water. You should be able to gather it between your fingers and form a soft ball.
Switch off the heat. Quickly stir in all the ingredients and whisk briskly for a few minutes until it is well mixed together. Store in an airtight container once it is completely cooled.

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