Simple Vegetable Rice

Simple Vegetable Rice

As the name says its a simple rice dish with no masalas and with vegetables.It is a one pot meal and  a child  friendly recipe.I was left with few carrots ,beans and potato and my kids prefer something simple to eat and very less spicy.They love ghee rice and jeera rice.But I like  to add mixed veggies to the dishes and make it healthy and wholesome.This recipe has very few ingredients.
Here goes the recipe
       

Ingredients:
Basmathi Rice - 1 cup
Chopped Mixed vegetables- 1 cup (I used carrots , french beans and potatoes)
Onion- 1 med thinly sliced
Green chillies - 1 slit ( can add more according to taste)
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp ( optional, I did not add)
Turmeric-1/8th tsp
Shahi jeera- 1 tsp
Oil/Ghee- 2 tbsp
Salt- to taste
Water- 2 cups

Procedure: 
Wash and soak the basmati rice for 20 mins.Drain the water and set aside.
Heat a pressure cooker, once hot add oil or ghee ,add jeera and once it splutters add green chilly and thinly sliced onion.Add turmeric.Once the onions turn brown add the chopped mixed vegetables.Mix it once and add the soaked basmati rice fry for a min and add about 2 cups of water , add salt, mix it well and cover the lid of the pressure cooker. Keep the flame to medium low and place the weight. Cook for two whistles and turn off the heat.Once the pressure goes off open the lid . Mix it once very gently and take it in a serving plate and serve it with raitha.


Variations:
You can add whole garam masalas( bay leaf, clove,cinnamon,elaichi and pepper corns) while adding jeera.

Beginners note:
To cook long grain basmathi rice wash the rice and soak it for 20 mins . Strain the rice . Add 1 and 1/2 cups water and a tsp of oil . Pressure cook for two whistles on a med low flame. Open the lid only when the pressure goes off.
If the dish has vegetables, add 1/2 cup more for the vegetables. In this particular  dish  I have added 2 cups water as it has vegetables.

Dominos Style Garlic Bread

Dominos Style Garlic Bread:

I am very happy and all exited to post the recipe of one more baked dish .When u end up in successful bakes one after the other ,it motivates to bake more and more....Hoping to post more baked dishes here.
Coming to the post , this recipe is a very rich recipe with lots of butter and oil..But to get the exact taste you cant replace anything here. Have tried making it with little less butter , the texure was good but taste was little bland and I was greedy about the colour as well.
The original recipe is from bharats kitchen and it is here

Ingredients:

All purpose flour- 500 gms / 4 & 1/4th cups
Instant yeast- 4 gms / 1 1/4th tsp
Luke warm water- 1 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup (at room temperature)
Sugar- 1 tbsp
Garlic- 10 big cloves finely minced (more according to taste)
Oilve oil - 3 Tbsp for the dough and more for kneading the dough
Melted butter at room temp - a little less than 1/2 cup plus extra for brushing on top before and after baking
Salt-1 tsp
Oregano - 3 tbsp (divided use)
2 Tbsp- corn meal for dusting ( I did not use, I used APF)
Mozzarella cheese for stuffing( optional)

Procedure:
Step 1 :
In a wide mixing bowl, take luke warm water , add instant yeast , sugar and about 1 tbsp of APF. Let it sit for 5 mins.

Step 2 :
Once the yeast mixture starts bubbling, add melted butter, milk, garlic ,1 tbsp of oregano and rest of the dough in 2 parts( add a little and mix well until incorporated) repeat until all the flour is done.
 The dough will be very sticky.
Now add a tbsp of oil and start kneading the dough,to activate gluten,  for about 10 to 15 mins.           I greased my hands with more oil to do this.
Oil a container or big bowl and place the dough ball in it and let it rise in the fridge for at least 18 hours,this is a very important step.
After 18 hours my dough was  double in size.

Punch the air out of the dough and divide it into four equal parts. I used one portion of the dough and preserved the rest in a zip lock bag ,in freezer, for future use.
Preheat the oven at 180 degrees.
 Now take one part of the dough, I divided it into two again and made two small garlic breads.You can make 1 big as well.Let the dough rest at room temperature for 10 mins.Place the dough on the counter top and punch the excess air .Dust the surface with cornmeal ( I skipped this as I didn't have and  dusted with APF)  .Grease a baking dray generously and sprinkle a tbsp of oregano.
Take a dough ball and start patting it with palm or a rolling pin into a flat round disc of 1 inch thickness.I added some mozzarella cheese onto this and folded into half(semicircle)  and sealed the edges. You can just seal it and make plain garlic bread with out stuffing.Place this on the greased tray and brush it with melted butter . Sprinkle a tbsp of oregano on top .Make cuts as shown in the pic and bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees C for 5 to 8 mins. Increase the temperature to 220 degrees C and bake for another 5 mins.I flipped the garlic bread as soon as the bottom was golden brown and baked the other side for few mins until golden brown.Serve it hot with a dip of your choice.


Variation:
Used the same dough as pizza base and the crust came out very well.

Whole wheat Butter Cookies/Benne biscuits

Whole Wheat Butter cookies / Benne biscuits

Benne biscuit is the simplest cookie recipe and I can say it is a beginners recipe.After many attempts and failures with benne biscuits I found this recipe ,which uses very few ingredients .This  is  a super hit recipe with my family and friends.Being whole wheat it is healthier and tastier as well. My kids love these cookies.I have baked it so many times and the recipe has never failed.
Here goes the recipe

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour- 1 cup
 Icing sugar- 1/2 cup ( Or just powdered sugar if you dont have icing sugar)
Unsalted Butter-1/2 cup or 100 grams at room temperature
baking powder-1/4th tsp
Cardamom powder- 1/4th  tsp

Procedure:
Sieve the whole wheat flour and baking powder once.Add cardamom powder to it and mix well.
Grease and line a baking tray or a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.Preheat the oven at 150 degrees. In a large mixing bowl take the butter . It should be very soft.Beat the butter with a wire whisk until fluffy.Add icing sugar to this and beat or mix it until well incorporated .

Add the dry flour mixture to this in parts (add a little and mix well, then add little more and mix until incorporated ) I usually do this in three parts. The dough will be of chapathi dough consistency , but will be little crumbly. If you try to hold the dough and shape it into a ball it should hold the shape.Let the dough rest for 10 to 15 mins.

After 10 mins shape them(refer foot note) into  desired shape or  just flatten into a disc  and place them on the lined baking tray allowing some space between cookies ,as they rise a bit when baked.Bake them at 150 degrees for 15 to 20 mins or until the edges start browning.Cool on wire rack and store in air tight container.

Note for beginners:

1.  To shape the cookies  just take a part of the dough and roll it to desired thickness on a flat surface with a rolling pin  , use cookie cutters and with the back of a knife lift the shaped cookie and place on baking tray,be very careful while doing this as it tends to break.

2.Baking time might vary depending on the size of the cookie so keep checking the oven and take them out once the edges start browning.Also you can try a test batch to find the baking time.

Variations:

1.Using Icing sugar gives very light texture to the cookies.I have tried baking with normal powdered sugar as well.The texture was pretty good

2.You can use maida in place of whole wheat flour, but the amount of butter required will be  little less as the dough needs to be little crumbly to get the exact bakery benne biscuit texture.With this amount of butter it becomes a soft dough and it does not hold shape.The cookies tasted very good though.The cooking time was also little longer for these cookies.

Will put the exact quantity of butter and baking time for maida benne bisciuts in my fore coming post.

Thank you for visiting my blog and please share your views and comments on this post

Avalakki / Poha/riceflakes bisibele bath

Avalakki/Poha/ rice flakes bisibelebath:

Bisibele bath is a dish which is cooked with rice , lentils and vegetables along with spice powders .
Its normally cooked with rice. But on the days of fasting the rice can be replaced with poha and its taste remains the same.
I usually prepare this on Ekadashi( the 11th day in the lunar cycle). It is considered auspicious to fast on this day.Also scientifically, our system needs  detoxification and fasting on regular basis with only fruits in our diet helps in flushing all the toxins.Ideally the elders in the family fast with only fruits and liquids on ekadashi, which I feel,is  their secret of longevity and a healthy life.
But with time and with our lifestyle I can not  follow the same diet. So I have customised the diet according to my convenience by eliminating cooked rice and onion garlic from the menu on this particular day and also I include wide variety of fruits.Ending my story  and here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:
Tuvar dal/pegion peas lentils - 1 cup
Thick poha - 1 cup
Chopped mixed veggies- 1 cup ( Potatoes, peas, beans, carrots,Squash,Cluster beans)
Thick tamarind paste- 1 tbsp
Jaggery- 1 tsp
Bisibele bhat powder / samabar pwd- 2 tsp
Salt- to taste

For seasoning:
Oil/ ghee- 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds- 1/4th tsp
curry leaves- 1 spring
turmeric pwd- 1/8th tsp
hing- a generous pinch.

Procedure:
Cook the tuvar dal and vegetable in a pressure cooker.Wash and soak the poha for at least 1/2 n hr if using the thick ones. Once the pressure goes off take the boiled veggies and tuvar dal along with the soaked poha in a thick bottomed wide container.Add tamarind paste, bisibele bath powder,jaggery and salt.Adjust the consistency to desired level by adding water.  Mix well and bring it to a boil.
Heat a wok add oil/ghee once hot add mustard seeds , once they crackle add curry leaves hing and turmeric powder. switch off and add this to prepared bisibele bath. Mix well .Serve hot with raita or chips.
Note: 
1.Tuvar dal can be replaced by moong dal.Quantity remains same as tuvar dal.  Dry roast moong dal before cooking it. Also cook the moong dal and vegetables direcly on stove top . Moong dal turns very mushy if cooked in pressure cooker.This has to be served immediately as the dish becomes very thick once cooled.
2.Poha can be replaced by broken wheat.Quantity remains same as poha. Cook it along with dal and veggies in pressure cooker and the rest of the procedure remains same.
3.Homemade Bisibele bhath powder recipe link is Here..

Raw tomato/green tomato chutney

Raw tomato/ green tomato chutney:
 Tomatoes are packed with vitamins and antioxidants.There are many ways and so many recipes to incorporate tomatoes in  daily cooking. It can be used in rasam/ saaru,  Chutney,dals etc...The recipe list goes on.
In this particular recipe I am using green tomatoes. Green tomato is used to prepare tomato pappu/tavve/dal and Chutney.
here's the recipe for green tomato chutney.

Ingredients:
Green tomatoes- about 1/2 kg
sesame seeds-1/2 tsp
fenugreek /Methi seeds- 1/4th tsp
Jeera -1/4 th tsp
Green chillies-3 nos slit
Turmeric pwd- 1/8th tsp
hing - a pinch
jaggery- 1 tsp
tamarind-1tsp ( I have not used) use only if tomatoes are not sour.
Oil- 1 tsp
Salt- to taste

For Seasoning :
Oil- 1 tsp
Musturd seeds- 1/4 tsp
Urad dal- 1/2 tsp
garlic- 4 cloves chopped finely
Curry leaves- 1 spring

procedure: 
Heat a wok and dry roast sesame seeds and fenugreek seeds separately , powder them and keep it aside. In the same wok heat a tsp of oil add hing ,jeera and turmeric pwd . Once jeera splutters add green chillies , saute and then add chopped green tomatoes . Cover and cook until the tomatos turn mushy. Once the tomatoes are cooked add salt, jaggery and tamarind paste if using. Let it cool. Take the cooked tomato mixture along with the ground pwd and grind it into a smooth paste.
For the seasoning heat a wok add a tsp of oil add musturd ,once it splutters add urad dal,curry leaves and finely chopped garlic.let the urad dal and garlic turn golden brown. add this seasoning to the Chutney and serve it with steaming hot rice topped with ghee.It can also be served as side dish with idli, dosa and chapathi.



note :
Green tomatoes can be replaced  with red ones . It tastes different but equally good.

Akki rotti/rice flour rotti

Akki rotti/Rice flour Rotti:

Akki rotti is traditional south Indian breakfast,mainly belonging to Karnataka cuisine .It can be made  plain with just the rice flour or  rice flour can be mixed  with grated veggies / just  onions . Or just add boiled field beans / avarekalu for avarekalu akki rotti. Here I am giving the recipe for  onion akki rotti.


Ingredients:
Rice flour- 2 cups
Onions medium size- 6 to7 ,finely chopped
Coriander leaves - about 1/4 cup loosely packed, finely chopped .
Green Chillies- 3 or more acc to taste, finely chopped.
Jeera/ cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Salt- to taste
Water to make the dough.
Oil- for cooking the rottis


Procedure:
In a large mixing bowl take  the rice flour , onions , Coriander leaves , green chillies,jeera and salt and mix well without adding water.Do not add water to the entire flour mixture as onions tend to leave moisture when mixed. Take the flour in parts , add water and make a soft dough as shown.

I use aluminium foil disposable plates to pat my rottis, as it requires very little oil.
It can be cooked directly in a kadai/ wok .I somehow find this method a little messy.
For the foil plate method, smear little oil on the aluminium foil plate, take a tennis ball size  dough and start patting it into thin circle as shown in the picture.
apply a little (about a tsp)  oil on the patted rotti.

Heat a girdle and when its hot transfer the Al.foil pate on the girdle with the patted rotti facing the tawa and press on all the sides.On medium flame cook it for few mins , once that side is cooked the foil plate comes out easily.Take the foil plate off and flip the rotti and cook on the  other side for few mins.

For crispy rottis cook on the tawa for long time on low flame. For soft rottis take it out from the tawa as soon as it is cooked .Serve it when it is hot along with coconut chutney or chutney powder and yoghurt.

Variations:

1. Onions can be replaced with finely chopped or grated cabbage shreds or grated mixed vegetables     ( Carrots, cabbage and cucumber). 

When using cabbage or mixed vegetables add grated fresh coconut.

2. Rice flour can be replaced with Ragi/finger millet flour or jowar/Sorghum flour.

Note:

If using finger millet or sorghum flour the rottis take longer time to cook,if you try to remove the foil plate before the rotti is cooked it will break/tear.

Heerekayi/Ridge gourd chutney

Heerekayi/Ridge gourd Chutney


Chutney is a  side  dish which is blended with flavours (Sweet, Spicy and tangy). My ajji ( Grand mother ) makes a wide varieties of chutneys and each time she replaces the ingredients in it so that it gives a different taste to the same chutney. You can prepare it using urad dal/ Chana Dal/ Sesame Seeds/ Corriander/ Cumin seeds.In this recipe i have used chana dal and dry coconut .Must admit that  I got this idea from my ajji ,but definitely it cant replace ajji's taste . I just relish her chutneys .
Here goes the recipe

Ingredients :

Ridge Gourd- 1 medium size
Chanadal/ Kadle bele- 1 1/2  tbsp
Dry red chillies- about 3 ( I use Kashmiri/ Byadige variety)
Dry coconut- 1/4th cup
Thick Tamarind juice - 1 Tbsp
Jaggery - 1tsp
Hing - A generous pinch
Turmeric - a pinch
Roasted fenugreek pwd / Methi pwd - a pinch
Salt - to taste
Oil- 1 1/2 tsp

For seasoning :
Oil-  1 tsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal- 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 spring

Procedure:

Wash and just peel the sharp edges of ridge gourd, retain the skin. Cut it into bite size pieces and keep it aside.

Heat a wok and once hot dry roast channa dal until golden brown . Set this aside and in the same wok add 1/2 a tsp of oil and toast the red chillies and dry coconut.Grind the channa dal, red chillies and dry coconut into fine  powder.

Again Add about a tsp of oil in the wok once hot add hing , methi pwd and turmeric pwd. Add the chopped ridge gourd . Cover it and let it cook until mushy.Keep stirring in between.Once cooked allow it to cool and grind it along with salt tamarind juice and  prepared channa dal red chilly and coconut powder without adding water.
Heat 1 tsp oil once hot add mustard seeds and once it stops spluttering add urad dal , let it turn golden brown and then add curry leaves .  Add this seasoning to ground chutney and serve with piping hot rice and rasam.

Variations:
1. can use urad dal instead of chana dal.
2.Dry coconut can be replaced with fresh grated coconut.
3. Dry Red chillies can be replaced with green chillies.
Add green chillies when cooking the ridge gourd. And once ridge gourd is cooked add fresh grated coconut and stir fry for few minutes.