Wednesday 19 March 2014

Sprouted Moong Fried Rice | Chinese Style

Offlate I am adding lots of sprouted moongs in my cooking. I usually make some salad out of it since we all love salads with sprouted moong. This time I tried a mixed rice and it turned out to be yummy. Posting this as the final recipe for the month of March's blogging Marathon. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#38

Please find the recipe to prepare Sprouted moong here


Ingredients 

Rice - 2 cups 
Onion - 1 
Capsicum - 1 
Sprouted Moong - 1/2 cup
Spring Onions - 3 tbsp  
Garlic - 1 pod 
Cabbage - 1/2 cup (chopped thin)
Soy Sauce - 1.5 tsp 
Chilli Tomato Sauce - 1 tbsp 
Pepper powder - 1 tsp 
Salt and Oil to taste 

Method:

  • Fry the rice in a little oil or butter and pressure cook. I used 1:1.5 water instead of the usual 1:2 so that it does not stick. 
  • Transfer to a big bowl and cool a little and separate the grains. 
  • Slice all the vegetables very thin and keep ready. 
  • In a pan, heat some oil. Keep the pan hot all the time. Add the onions and garlic. Saute for a minute. 
  • Add the capsicum, cabbage and spring onion. Saute for 2-3 minutes. 
  • Add Sprouted Moong and salt. Fry for another 5 minutes.
  • Add the soy sauce and chilli sauce along with pepper. Toss well. 
  • Add the rice and switch off. You can garnish with some spring onions.




Enjoy the fried rice with a manchurian of your choice. I ate it just like that without any side dishes !!!!

Note: 

We can also add other vegetables like carrot, red pepper, yellow pepper etc.... But I wanted the rice to look more green. So added only green vegetables.

Don't completely cook the veggies until they are mushy. The speciality of Chinese Fried Rice is that the vegetables should be half cooked and have a crunchy taste. Hence the name fried rice.



Tuesday 18 March 2014

Paneer Pulav

This would definitely be Kids Favourite... Well I got hold of this recipe from here. This is a very easy one pot meal and a good one for lunch boxes. I served this with a simple raitha and dry salad. Posting this for BM#38 - Gourmet Rice dishes.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#38

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup - 125 grams
Paneer - 100 grams - 15 cubes
ginger - 5 grams
garlic - 4 pods
cloves - 3
garam masala - 1/4 tspn
red chilli powder - 1 tspn
mint leaves - few
coriander leaves - few
tomato - 50 grams
onions - 50 grams
Oil - 4 tbspn



Method:

  • Grind the mint leaves, coriander leaves, cloves, tomato, ginger and garlic into a smooth paste.
  • Wash the rice and keep aside.
  • Shallow fry the paneer cubes in oil and immerse them in hot water for few minutes. Drain the water and keep aside.
  • Chop the onions into thin slices.
  • In a pressure cooker, add oil and add the sliced onions.
  • Saute till it becomes translucent.
  • Add salt and the ground masala to this.
  • Saute in a medium flame till the raw smell goes off.
  • Add redchilli powder and garam masala.
  • Add the fried paneer cubes and mix well.
  • Add the rice and  water to this and cover the cooker with lid and pressure cook till 2 whistles




Serve with raitha and papads.... Yummy Paneer Pulav is ready!!!

Note:

If not frying the paneer just dip them in hot water for 5-10 minutes and drain the water before cooking. This makes the paneer soft.
Adding whole spices can be adjusted according to your own taste. Fennel seeds can be added while grinding the masala.
Even cinnamon,star anise and cardamom can be added in the oil before adding onions.

Monday 17 March 2014

Tomato Rice in 5 minutes

The Alarm goes off...You get up on that lazy Monday Morning, snooze the alarm for 10 minutes and catch a quick nap. You get up and find that its already 7:00 in the morning!!!!!! You have only 30 minutes before the kid's school van comes and you need to prepare breakfast/lunch, get the kid ready for school....... OH NO!!! what to do...

How many of you have been in this situation? Well I have been more than once and have managed to escape with the help of this dish :-) Yes whenever I am late, I prepare a quick breakfast of cornflakes + milk or toast + milk and this tomato rice in 5 minutes. So kitchen activities take 15 minutes of my time and I have rest 15 minutes for other activities and getting ready.

For the second theme in this month's Blogging Marathon I chose Gourmet rice dishes. What better idea would I get than to post this recipe....Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#38




Ok - 5 minutes here means 5 minutes of your time. Since we cook this in pressure cooker the rice takes around 5-7 minutes to cook and another 5-10 minutes to open the cooker. But meanwhile you can prepare other stuff.

Ingredients: (4 servings)

Rice - 1 Cup - 125 grams
Onions - 100 grams
Tomatoes - 150 grams
Ginger – 5 grams
Garlic – 3 pods
Green chillies – 2 nos
Water – 2 cups
Salt – to taste
Coriander powder – 1 tspn
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tspn
Garam masala powder – ½ tspn
Ghee – 2 tbspn

Spices:
Bay leaf – 1
Cinnamon – ½ inch stick
Cloves – 4
Cardamom – 2
Star anise – 1

Coriander leaves – few
Spring onions – few


Method:
  • Wash the rice and keep aside.
  • Grind the onions, tomatoes, green chillies, ginger, garlic into a coarse paste.
  • In a pressure cooker, add ghee and add all the spices. Fry for about 30 seconds
  • Add the ground paste and fry for another minute.
  • Add the washed rice and throw in all the powders including salt.
  • Mix well. Add the required amount of water (1:2 ratio).
  • Mix well. Check for salt. Close the pressure cooker.
  • Cook for one pressure. Then bring doen the heat to minimum. Cook for another minute and switch off the stove.
  • Open the pressure cooker as soon as the pressure is released and transfer the contents to a wide mouthed bowl.
  • Garnish with coriander leaves. In my home since spring onions were growing, so I garnished with those.



Tomato rice in 5 minutes is ready!!!! Just grab a packet of potato chips and then enjoy a relishing lunch!!!


Wednesday 5 March 2014

Spaghetti in White sauce

Another one of H's favourite. I am not a fan of pasta in white sauce - I prefer pasta in red sauce with lot of tomatoes.... But this is a very big hit among kids with lots of cheese and butter in the recipe.
My third contribution to BM#38 - Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#38


Ingredients:

1.      Spaghetti– 200 grams
2.      Vegetables – ½ cup or more (boiled)

For the sauce

1.       Garlic – 1 clove
2.       Butter – 2 tsp
3.       All purpose flour/ Maida – 1 tbsp
4.       Milk - 1 ½ cups
5.       Cheese – 2 small cubes 
6.       Chilli Flakes – ½ tsp
7.       Oregano – a big pinch
8.       Pepper powder – ½ tsp
9.       Salt to taste

Method

  • Cook the Spaghetti as per the instruction on the packet. Drain and refresh with cold water, drain again and keep aside. 
  • Add the boiled vegetables to it. I used carrots, capsicum, mushroom and paneer. Just boiled these in microwave oven and added.
  • Heat a non stick pan with butter, add crushed garlic and sautรฉ.
  • Next add maida and sautรฉ for a few minutes or till the raw smell disappears.
  • Now slowly add the milk while whisking continuously, so that no lumps are formed. Let this cook for about 2 to 3 minutes or till the sauce starts boiling.
  • Next add in one cube of grated cheese and mix well. Now add the chilli flakes, oregano and pepper powder and salt to taste. Mix well.
  • Now add the cooked spaghetti and the vegetables. Mix well without breaking the pasta.
  • Finally, before serving add another cube of grated cheese.



That’s yummy and delicious Spaghetti is ready to dig in. Serve hot!!! Kids would be overjoyed to have this after-school.

Linking this to after-school snacksvalli's page


Tuesday 4 March 2014

Sundal - Black Channa | black chick peas stir fry

These were my favourite evening snacks as a kid.... I used to enjoy the navarathiri season for these snacks. So posting one for the BM #38 series of kids delight. Very easy to prepare except that we need a little planning since the chick peas needs to be soaked for about 8-12 hours. This sundal can be prepared with a lot of other items like white chick peas, peas, channa dal etc...

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#38




Ingredients:

Black Channa - 1 cup - 125 grams
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup - 50 grams
Salt - to taste
Mango pieces (grated) - 2 tspn
Oil - 2 tspn
mustard seeds - 1 tspn
urad dal - 1/2 tspn
Red chillies - 3 nos
Curry leaves - few



Method:

  • Soak the black channa / chickpeas for about 8-12 hours of overnight.
  • Pressure cook the channa / chickpeas with salt and turmeric powder and enough water until the channas are cooked soft. Drain the water and keep aside.
  • In a kadai pour oil. Add the mustard seeds. Once mustard splutters add the urad dal and fry for about 10 seconds.
  • Add the curry leaves and the red chillies. Fry for about a minute.
  • Add the grated coconut and grated mangoes (raw). Fry for about 5 minutes in low flame. 
  • Add the cooked chickpeas and mix well. Heat for another 2 minutes.




Sundal is ready!!! This can be served hot or cold!!!!

We at home enjoy this with rasam-rice also...


Linking this to after-school snacksvalli's page


Coconut stuffed wheat dosa | a quick snack with grated coconut and sugar

This is my first port for the Blogging Marathon. I am participating in BM#38. But I guess I started at the wrong time. There was no internet connectivity and hence I missed the first day. I should actually be publishing this post on 3rd March but alas I am posting on 4th March. Anyways I will compensate by pusblishing 2 recipes today. And My first choice was kids recipes. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#38
So here goes my first recipe for the Blogging Marathon series.

H introduced me to this recipe. And this is a big hit among kids mainly because it is sweet. A quick to make evening snack and most of the ingredients you would find at home!!! grated coconut, sugar, wheat flour.... And the snack is ready in 10 minutes...



Ingredients:

Wheat Flour - 1 cup - 125 grams
Water - 3/4 cup
Egg - 1
salt - to taste

Stuffing:
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup - 50 grams
Sugar - 1/4 cup - 30 grams
Cardamom powder - 1 tspn - 5 grams

To Temper:
Oil - 1 tspn - 5 grams
Mustard - 1 tspn - 5 grams
urad dal - 1/2 t spn - 3 grams

Coriander leaves - few

Method:


  • Mix the wheat flour and salt. Add water and make it into a batter similar to that of dosa batter consistency.
  • Beat one egg and add this to the batter and mix well. This makes the dosas very soft. For vegetarian people this step can be avoided. Instead add a pinch of baking soda.
  • Chop the coriander leaves and add this to the batter. Mix well
  • For the stuffing - just mix the grated coconut, sugar and cardamom powder and keep it ready.
  • In a kadai, pour oil, add the mustard seeds. Once mustard splutters, add the urad dal. Fry until urad dal turns light pink - add this to the batter and mix well.
  • Heat a dosa pan. Make a thin dosa of the batter. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes. 
  • Put 2 spoons of the stuffing in the middle as shown in the below picture.


  • Fold the dosa from both sides and press with the ladle so that the dosa seals itself.
  • Cook for another one minute.



Serve hot!!!!


A quick and healthy snack is ready!!!!

We sometimes have this for a late breakfast on weekends since this is very easy to prepare :-) and filling.


Linking this to after-school snacksvalli's page