Red Basmati Rice Khichdri

A couple of  weeks back my husband got a new variety of rice called red basmati rice from the Indian stores. This rice is a product of Srilanka. But we could also get this kind of rice at Whole Foods market. Red basmati rice is considered as an aromatic rice. Similar to the brown rice this rice takes long time to cook and the rice slightly splits when its cooked.. It takes about 45 minutes to cook 1 cup of rice in a rice cooker. It resembles cooked wild rice and has an aroma  reminiscent of popcorn. This rice is also rich in dietry fibre. We both started liking the rice and started making it for our regular lunch. Last week I tried making Khichri and it came out really well.
Ingredients:

Red Basmati Rice- 1/2 cup
toor dal- 1/4 cup
Mixed vegetables- one cup (carrot, string beans, peas, potatoes, corn)
Tomato (chopped)- 1
turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
corriander powder- 1 tsp
cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
chilli powder- 1- 1/2 tsp (accoding to spice level)
grated ginger 1 tsp
garam masala- 1/2 tsp
salt to taste
coriander leaves (cilantro)- 1 tbsp , chopped (to garnish)

Seasoning
mustard seed- 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds(jeera)- 1tsp
curry leaves- 1 string
asafoetida- 2 pinch
ghee- 2 tsp

Method:

• Wash the dal and rice. In a vessel boil 3 cups of water. Add the rice, dal and turmeric powder and cook them on a medium flame. 
• When the rice and dal gets half cooked add the mixed veggies, tomato, corriander powder cumin powder, tomatoes, salt, ginger, chilli powder and aloow it to cook on a medium flame. 
• Stir the khichri in between to make sure that the ingredients at the bottom of the vessel doesn't get burnt. 
• When the rice gets 75% cooked add the garam masala and continue to cook on a medium flame.  Add 1/2 cup of water if necessary.
• When the rice and dal along with the mixed veggies get cooked fully, turn off the heat. 
• In a small wok heat some ghee add mustard, cumin seeds. When the mustard cracks add hing and curry leaves and pour the seasoning on the khichri. Mix well and garnish with coriander leaves(cilantro)
• Serve hot khichri with pickle and yogurt.(curd).

Chilli Paneer / Spicy Cottage cheese

Chilli paneer is an Indo-chinese dish. This is also one of the popular appetizer in the  Indian restaurants. Although branded as an appetizer this makes a great combo with vegetable fried rice and vegetable pulav . The recipe is simple and I leant to make this from my aunt Mrs.Parvathy. Now lets take a look at the ingredients needed for making chilli panner.
Ingredients:
Paneer- 250 g

corn starch- 3 tbsp

all purpose flour- 2 tbsp

water- 5 tbsp

chilli powder- 1/4 tsp

oil for deep fry

Sauce

capsicum (bell pepper)-  1 cup chopped (green, red, yellow)
cabbage (chopped)- 1 cup
ginger- 1 tsp + 1tbsp
tomato sauce- 4 tsp
soy sauce 2 tsp + 1 tsp
chilli sauce- 1 tsp
water 1/4 cup
ajnamoto- 1 pinch
oil- 1 tbsp
salt to taste
asafoetida(hing) - a pinch


Method:

• In a bowl mix the corn starch, all purpose flour, chilli powder, pinch of salt, 1 tsp grated ginger and 5 tbsp of  water.
•  Cut the paneer in cubes of 1" size and marinate in the batter for 20 minutes. 
• In a deep pan heat some oil about one inch deep. Fry the panner until golden brown and drian them on a paper towel. The remaining batter can be used in making the sauce. 
• In a wok heat 1 tbsp of oil. Add 1 tbsp of grated ginger, chopped cabbage, bell pepper(capsicum) and a pinch of hing. 
• saute them until they become tender and add a tomato sauce, soy sauce, chilli sauce, a pinch of ajnamoto, the remaining batter, water, salt and cook for 2 minutes. 
• Now add the fried paneer and mix well and cook in low flame for 5 minutes.
• Turn down the heat and serve hot.

Yard Long Beans Lemon Rice

I tasted this recipe in the life member prasadam counter in Mayapur. Actually I am not a big fan of Lemon Rice but this one was out of the world. The lemon rice gets a unique taste because of the yard long beans. So I decided to try this at home and it did come out well. Moreover for office goers this is a real quick dish to prepare.

Ingredients:
Rice - 1 cup
Lemon - 1
Yard Long Beans – 10-12
Turmeric powder – 1tsp
Ground Nuts - a few(optional)
Green Chillies - 3.
Curry leaves – a few
Oil – 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Urad Dhal – 1 tsp
Channa Dhal – 2 tbsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Corriander leaves – a small bunch
Salt – as per taste

Method :
Wash and cook the rice in a pressure cooker.

Squeeze the juice from the lemon and keep it.

Cut the yard long beans into 2cm size pieces.

Heat oil in a pan, add the beans and fry well till the beans becomes tender and soft.

Remove the beans from the oil and keep it separately.

Next in the same pan to the oil, add the mustard seeds and once they burst add the urad dhal and channa dhal. When they become golden brown add the green chillies, curry leaves and ground nuts and fry well.

Next add the fried beans, then add the asafoetida and the turmeric powder.

Next add the cooked rice, lemon juice and salt. Mix well.

We can also add little dry grapes and cashew if need along with the ground nuts and fry them.(This is optional) Garnish with coriander leaves and Serve Hot.

Malai Muttar Paneer / Creamy cottage cheese curry

Malai Muttar Paneer is a delicious dish from the Punjabi cuisine. Malai  means cream, muttar refers to green peas and paneer is Indian cottage cheese. This paneer dish is very rich and creamy and there are high chances that you get addicted to it. This is not a very complex recipe and is relatively easy to cook, but does not compromise on its quality and taste. When I learnt about this recipe I was just amazed how such simple recipe could taste so great.

Ingredients

Paneer- 200 gms

Peas- 1 cup

tomatoes( chopped)- 2 (medium size)

ginger- 1 inch (grated)

cabbage (chopped)- 1/4 cup

whole cashews- 10

broken cacshews- 5

blanched almonds- 5 (chopped)

raisins- 6-7

fresh cream/ whipping cream- 1 cup

milk- 1/2 cup

coriander powder- 1 tsp

cuminpowder- 1/2 tsp

red chilli powder- 1 tsp

garam masala- 1/2 tsp

Kasoori methi (dry fenugreek leaves)- 1 tbsp

cardamon powder- 1/4 tsp

hing/ asafotida- 1 pinch

butter- 2 tbsp

cilantro (coriander) leaves to garnish

Preparation:

Grate the paneer. Soak the whole cashews for half an hour. Heat 1 tbsp of butter in a pan. Add the chopped cabbage witha pinch of hing until golden brown and then add the chopped tomatoes and ginger and fry them until they become tender. Allow it to cool and grind them along with the soaked cashews into a fine paste. Now heat 1 tbsp of butter and add the broken cashews, blanched almonds, Kasoori methi and cardamom powder and fry them until golden brown. add the raisins, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder, garam masala and fry them for a minute in medium heat and then add the ground paste. Add required water so that the paste doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and also to get a perfect gravy consistancy. Add green peas, grated paneer and salt and allow them to cook for 5 minutes. Then add milk and cream and cook for 5- 10 minutes. Remove from heat and granish with cilantro leaves.

Note: Malai paneer can be served as a main course with roti, naan, pulav for lunch and dinner. It is also party favourite.