Kichidi

Kichidi is one more thing that I fall back to when i have absolutely no patience to cook. I guess i learnt this from my mom :))


Ingredients:

1.)Basmati rice -1 and 1/2 cups

2.)Moong dal/Pesarapapu - 3/4 cup

3.)green chillies - 4(slit vertically)

4.)onion - 1 small(chopped length wise)
5.)Cloves - 3
6.)cinnamon - 1/2 inch
7.)tomato - 1 (optional)
8.)turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
9.)ginger garlic paste - 1tsp
10.)oil - 1tbsp
11.)salt - to taste

Procedure:
Wash the dal(lentil) and soak for 15 to 30 mins(first start the cooking process by washing and soaking the dal). Take oil in a pan. When it is hot add cloves and cinnamon. Once it starts giving an aroma, add onions and green chillies. When the onions get translucent add turmeric and fry till the raw aroma of turmeric is gone. Now add ginger garlic paste and fry well till the raw flavor is gone. At this point, add the tomatoes(optional) and salt, and cook for 5 mins. Now to the above mixture add dal and rice and stir until all the grains are properly coated. Fry for 5 mins(this prevents the rice from getting mushy). The next step is to cook the above mixture in cooker(electric), with 4 and 1/2 cups of water. Kichidi is ready to be served. This goes best with the tomato curry, curd and pickle(Indian).

Capsicum fried rice

This one more variation to the fried rice family. the main ingredient of this recipe as the name suggests is capsicum.

Ingredients:

1.)capsicums - 2 (chopped finely)

2.)onion - 1 medium (chopped length wise)

3.)cloves - 4

4.)cinnamon - 1/2 inch

5.)ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

6.)soya sauce - 2tsps

7.)basmati rice - 2 cups

8.)tomato ketchup - 1 tbsp

9.)garam amsla powder - 1tbsp

10.)oil - 2 tbsp

11.)salt

12.) green chillies - 2 (slit length wise)

Procedure:

Take oil in a pan, add the cloves and cinnamon and fry till u start getting the aroma. At this point add the onions and green chillies and saute till onions get translucent. Now add ginger garlic paste and fry till raw flavor is gone. At this pint add capsicum , soyas auce,salt, garam masala and saute well. Try to fry the capsicum peices tilll they get soft. At this point add tomato ketchup and cook for another 4 -5 mins. Now add washed basmati rice and stir till all the rice grains are coated with the masala's. Next transfer the contents to an electric rice cooker. Add 4 and 1/2 cups of water and cook. Capsicum fried rice is ready. This goes well with raitha or plain curd.

Note:

First add soya sauce and then add salt accordingly. Because soya sauce gives saltiness to the dish, so add salt accordingly.

Vegetable pulav

This is a very simple recipe which comes to our rescue when we have absolutely no patience to spend a considerable amount of time in the kitchen. This can be had by itself or with plain curd or raitha.

Ingredients:

1.) Basmati Rice - 2 cups

2.) cloves - 5

3.) cinnamon - 1/2 inch

4.) cardamon -2

5.) bay leaf - 2

6.) onion - 1 small (chopped vertically)

7.) biryani masala - 2 tspns

8.) green chillies - 4

9.) garam masala powder - 1 tspn

10.) salt to taste

11.) veggies - 1 and 1/2 cup

12.) ginger garlic paste 2 tspns

13.) cashew - 10

14.) oil - 2 tbspns

Procedure:

Take oil in a pan, when it is hot add the spices . Then add the onions and cashews and saute till golden brown. next add the ginger garlic paste and cook till the raw flavor is gone. Now add the green chillies and saute for 2- 3 mins. Then add the veggies and saute for 5 mins. Next add salt, biryani masala and garam masala. Saute till veggies are nicely coated with the masala.(take care that the masala's dun burn). Once the veggies are sauteed properly and thoroughly coated with the masala's , add the rice and toast it for 3 mins. Now remove from heat and transfer the content to a electric rice cooker. Add 2 and 1/2 cups of water and cook.

Vegetable Dum ka Biryani

The minute one thinks of hyderabadi cusine, "dum" ka biryani come instantaneously to ones mind. It is a very popular dish in hyderabad. There is no restaurant in hyderabad that doesn't have the dum ka biryani. So today I will be sharing the vegetarian version of dum ka biryani.



Ingredients:
1.) Basmati rice - 2 cups
2.) Cloves - 6
3.) Cinnamon - 1/2 inch
4.) cardamon - 2
6.) star - 1
7.) Bay leaves - 3
8.) Green chillies - 5
9.) nutrela soya chunks - 1/2 cup
10.) Biryani masala - 2 - 3 tspns
11.) garam masala powder - 1 tsp
12.) onion - 1 medium
14.) Curd - 1 cup
15.) milk- 1cup
16.) Edible color or kesar(saffron)
17.) veggies (carrot, peas, cauliflower)
18.) Ginger garlic paste - 1 and 1/2 tsps
19.) mint leaves - 1 /2 cup
20.) Turmeric - pinch
21.) chicken/mutton masala - 1-2 tsp(optional)
22.) Cashews - 10
23.) salt

Procedure:
Take one table spoon of oil in a pan add 2 cloves, 1/4 inch of cinnamon stick and one cardamon,
bay leaf, cashews and star. Once u start getting the aroma of the masala's and the cashew starts getting brown , add rice and mint leaves and toast it. Remove the rice from heat when it is slightly toasted. Cook the rice with 3 cups of water ( 1: 1and 1/2 measure of rice and water). When the rice is 80% done, remove from heat.

Take the soya chunks, add water to it and microwave it for about 2 mins. Once they are soft, run it through cold water and wash it thoroughly.Squeeze out the excess water from it.
Chop the onion vertically. Fry half of the vertically chopped onion till golden brown.

In a pan add 2 tbspns of oil. When the oil is hot add the rest of the spices(cloves, cinnamon, cardamon and bay leaves). Once they start giving out a nice aroma add rest of the vertically chopped onions and saute. to this add ginger garlic paste and vertically slit green chillies and saute well. Once the onions are golden brown and the raw flavor of ginger garlic paste is gone add the veggies along with the soya chunks. Stir for a minute and add biriyani masala, garam masala , chicken/mutton masala and salt. Cook till the veggies are 75% done. Now add curd to this and cook the veggies till 80% done (it would take just another couple of mins).

Take a wide pan and add a layer on the cooked veggies. Now add a layer of the 80% cooked rice. Top with fried onions. On top of this add another layer of veggies. Over the veggies add another layer of rice and top it fried onions. Finally dissolve kesar or edible color in milk and pour over the biryani. Close a lid on pan (tightly) and place it on low heat for about 10 mins, till all the flavors are steamed together (this is the meaning of DUM).
Sometimes the bottom may get burnt, to avoid this place this pan in another larger pan with water(double boiling).
Once the biryani is done mix well and serve with salan, bagara baingan , stuffed capsicum (http://arcotneha.blogspot.com/2009/01/stuffed-capsicum-curry.html) or raitha.
Generally the dessert that accompanies this rich entree is qubani ka meeta (http://arcotneha.blogspot.com/2009/01/qubanikhubani-ka-meeta.html), another famous dish from hyderabad.