Jeera Rice

This is the very easy recipe and can be prepared by all in a jiffy.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Jeera/cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Cilantro/Coriander - 2 tsp (finely chopped)
Mint leaves - 2 tsp (finely chopped )

Salt - to taste
Oil/Ghee - 3 tsp

Method:
Soak basmati rice in 1 and 3/4 cups of water for half an hour. In an open sauce pan cook the rice along with 1 tsp of oil and salt. In the meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a pan and add jeera.Let it splutter and now add cilantro and mint . Once the rice is cooked , mix the thadka with the rice . Jeera Rice is ready to serve . You can have with any subji or dhals.

Aloo Mutter

As the name implies , this dish comprises of two main ingredients Potato and Peas.

Potato ( Boiled ) - 6 medium sized
Peas - 1 cup
Onion - 1 medium sized
Tomato - 1 medium sized
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Green chillies - 2 (chopped into small pieces)
Garam masala powder - 2tsp
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves - 2 tsp finely chopped
Ginger - 1 tsp finely chopped
Salt - as per taste
Milk - 2 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp

Method:

Boil the potatoes and cut in to quarters . Heat the oil in a pan and add finely chopped onions. While frying onions add a lil bit of salt so that the onions gets cooked in less time. Once the onions become transparent add the finely chopped tomatoes till they form a paste . In the mean time , in a small bowl add the coriander powder , garam masala powder, red chilly powder, turmeric powder , chopped ginger and mix with the milk . Once the onion - tomato paste is ready , add this masala mixture and let the mixture blend with the paste . After 2 minutes add the potatoes and peas .U can add water and salt as per your requirements. Cook in a medium flame .Aloo mutter is ready . Now add the lemon juice and garnish with the coriander leaves.

Bengali Kichdi

This is an easy recipe , mainly for bachelors.After Durga Pooja , Bengalis prepare this Kichdi to complete their vrat.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Moong Dhal - 1/2 Cup
Onion - 1 medium sized ( Chopped)
Tomato - 1/2 (chopped)
Carrot - 1 (grated ) optional.
Cardomom - 5
Clove - 2 (optional)
Green chillies - 3 (slit)
Ginger - 2 tsp (cut into thin slices)
Saunf - 1 tsp (optional)
Garam Masala - 2 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 1 Tbsp

Lemon juice - 2 tsp(optional)
Coriander leaves - 2 tsp

Method:

Soak Basmati Rice and Moong dhal for half an hour together. In the mean while, Heat oil in a pan , add cardomom, clove, saunf, slit green chillies and ginger. Add onions and a lil bit salt . Fry till the onions are golden brown . Then add tomatoes and garam masala powder.Let them blend with the onions. In a large open vessel , put a little of oil , salt , basmati rice and moong dhal ,the masala and cook . Once they are cooked , garnish with the grated carrot and coriander leaves.Add some lemon juice if you wish.Kichdi is now ready for serving.

Arisi Upma

This is a traditional tamil brahmin dish .Very yummy and mouth watery dish especially for my hubby.This can be served with coconut chutney with lil bit coriander leaves added.

Ingredients:

Rice ( Grounded coarsely) - 1 Cup

For Seasoning:

Mustard - 1 tsp
Split Urad dhal - 1 tsp
Chana dhal - 1 tsp
Hing ( Asafoetida) - 1 tsp
Green Chillies - 1 tsp chopped
Red chillies - 5 chopped
Ginger - 1 tsp grated
Grated Coconut - 2 Tbsp
Salt - as per taste
Curry leaves (optional)
Oil - 1 Tbsp
Coconut oil - 2 tsp (optional)

Whip the plain rice into caorse powder ( should be like idli rava).
Heat oil in a pan , and add mustard seeds.When it splutters, add the remaining items in the pan except coconut . When the dhals become golden yellow ,add 2 - 3 cups of water and bring it boil .When the water boils , add the grated coconut and the coarse rice and rice has to be boiled.For best results, close the vessel with a plate filled water.The rice in the vessel has to be boiled with the help of steam . After 5 mins add coconut oil which gives the good aroma.Then again close the vessel and boil till the rice is done .Now ur arisi upma is ready for seving with coconut chutney.

VennPongal

This is a classic tiffin of tamilnadu and my fav tiffin ever.This is very simple to make and can be done within 20 mins.Best suitable for bachelors.

Raw rice or sona masoori rice - 1 cup
Moon dhal - 1/2 cup
salt as per taste
jeera - 2 tsp
black pepper - 10
ginger - 2 tsp grated
curry leaves for thadka optional
ghee - 2 Tbsp
cashew nut - 5 (optional)

Heat the pan and fry rice and moong dhal together for 2 mins . Then pressure cook the moong dhal and rice for 2 whistles .( for 1 cup rice , 3 cups of water required). Again put 3 tsp of ghee in pan and heat .Once the ghee is hot add jeera, grated ginger , pepper , curry leaves, cashew nuts.once the pepper splutter , switch off the flame. Open the cooker and add rest of the ghee , salt and the thadka. Pongal is now ready. It can be served with sambhar , coconut chutney along with medu vada.

Okra- Peanut fry

One day I had a lil bit okra which cannot be used for the normal fry. So I had to think of some other ingredient which can go with okra. I was scanning the kitchen cupboard and I finally made a decision of using peanut along with okra. So here goes the recipe.

Okra - 250 gms
Peanut - palmful
mustard, split urad dhal - for thadka
oil - 5 tsp
salt as per taste
Hing( Asafoetida) - 1/2 tsp
turmeric - 1/2 tsp
chilli powder - 2 tsp

Heat oil in a pan and mustard. Let it splutter and then add split urad dhal and fry for 30 secs. Then add turmeric, hing and peanut .Wait for the peanut to get roasted and then add the okra ( cut into small pieces) to the pan .Add chilli powder and salt.Then fry for 10 mins. The curry is ready.Can be a good side dish for chappati , roti too.

ChineseVeg Fried Rice

Chinese Fried Rice:
Ingredients:

Potato : 100 gms ( cut into long thin pieces)
Carrot (julienne cut) : 50 gms
Beans(french cut) : 200 gms
Red Cabbage(optional) - 1/4 finely chopped
Peas - 50 gms
Corn (optional) - 50 gms
Green Bell Pepper - 1/2 cup finely chopped
Red , Yellow, orange Bell peppers together (optional) - 1/4 cup finely chopped
Spring onion (optional) - 1 ( finely chopped)

Soya Sauce - 3 to 4 tsp
Chinese Salt ( Ajinomoto) ( optional) - a pinch
Salt - as per taste
Green Chilli paste - 2 tsp
Black Pepper powder - 1 tsp
oil - 2 Tbsp

Basmati rice - 3 cups

Method:

Fry the Basmati rice first . Then saok it in water for 1/2 hr.Cook the basmati rice in an open vessel such that it should be separate ( for each cup add 1 and 3/4 cups of water to cook).In the meanwhile, pour oil in the frying pan and once the oil turns hot add beans and carrot and fry for 10 mins.Once they are half cooked add the rest of vegetables except spring onion .Sprinkle some water if needed.The vegetables should also be separate, so that when its mixed with rice we can enjoy the taste of each vegetable.Once the vegetables are done , add the soya sauce and fry for 2 mins. Then add pepper powder and salt .Let it blend with the vegetables for a minute.Then add the green chilli paste and let it get mixed with the vegetable for 2 mins . Then add the white part of the spring onion .Once the onion smell gets mixed in the veggies, add this to the cooked basmati rice . The green part of the spring onion can be used for decorative purposes( can be fried separately and decorate).Now your veg fried rice is ready.