Methi Corn Pulao

Prepared this tasty pulao a week back. It turned out so well and the mild methi flavor  and aroma in rice was so tempting. Even my kid dint complain about bitter taste.

Lets see the recipe now.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Methi leaves - 1/3 cup (tightly packed)
corn - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1 small
Green chilies -2
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece (finely chopped)
Garlic - 2-3 cloves (finely chopped)
turmeric powder - a small pinch
salt- as per taste
Oil -2-3 tbsp
coriander leaves - a few
cashews- a few


Dry Garam masala:

Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
bay leaves - 2-3
anistar - 1
cloves -4
elachi - 2-3
cinnamon - 1/2 inch stick
jeera/cumin - 1/2 tsp

Preparation:

1.Wash and soak basmati rice for atleast 30 mins.
2. Clean and chop methi leaves and keep aside.
3. In a pressure pan / cooker, heat a tbsp of oil and add the dry garam masala items listed above.
4. add cashews and fry for a while.
5. Add finely chopped ginger and garlic and saute.(dont let it burn)
6. Add lengthily cut onions, green chilies and saute  until they turn soft and brown.
7. Now add corn, chopped methi leaves and saute well. onions and methi will mix together.
8. add a pinch of turmeric, soaked rice and saute for a minute.
9. In the mean time measure required water (i used 1:2 cups) and bring to boil.
10. Add boiling water to the rice mix, add salt and close the lid.
11. Leave it for 2 whilstles and switch off the flame.
12.Let it rest for 10-15 mins and gently fluff the rice with fork.
13.Add chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with Raitha or papad.

Notes:
1.If you like methi taste, you can add a little more of it.
2.You can substitute chopped ginger garlic with ginger garlic paste.
3. Adding boiling water to the rice gives fluffy pulao, than the normal / cold water.

Lemon Poha / Lemon Aval

Aval is my favorite in any form. Most of the Lazy day's breakfast / evening snack will be based on Aval / Poha only. It is so simple to make in minutes. Last weekend I prepared Lemon Poha for breakfast and my kid loved it. It was finished just in minutes.

So thought of sharing this simple recipe here.

Ingredients:

Aval / Poha - 2 cups
Lemon - Half of medium size
Red chili - 1 (increase if you prefer spicy)
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Peanuts - 1 tbsp (optional)
turmeric - 1/8 tsp
salt- as per taste
Curry leaves - a sprig
Oil -1 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Clean and wash Aval in colander with running tap water for 45 sec to 1min.
2. drain water and keep it aside.
3.Heat oil in a kadai /pan and add Peanuts and saute until they turn light brown. Then add mustard seeds, urad dal, red chili, curry leaves one by one.
4.saute for  a min, (dont let the ingredients burn) and add turmeric powder and little salt. Give a quick stir and switch off the flame.
5. Now add lemon juice from half a lemon.
6.Add the washed Aval and stir well.
7. Now switch on the stove and stir for a minute. (Just the aval should become hot) Do not cook for more time. Adjust salt by tasting now.

Notes:
1. If the Aval is not tangy add another tsp of lemon juice.
The lemon which i used was Juicy and medium tangy.
2.Turmeric tends to burn quickly,so add the turmeric in hot oil, stir quickly and switch off the flame.
3. It is important to on the flame and stir for a minute at last / until the poha is hot, otherwise, the poha will be raw in taste and smell.
4. If you cook more time after adding lemon, it will turn little bitter.
5.Salt and lemon can be added anytime even after cooking so adjust if needed.

Pori Urundai

Karthigai Deepam Wishes to you all.
Hope everyone havin fun lighting up Deepam, candles at home. It is an exciting festival for us in childhood (Even Now). We will be expecting this day from deepaavali and preserve some night crackers. And it is another Festival with lots of eatables. Mom will be preparing  "kozhukattai vilakku", rava appam,vadai, and other snacks to offer.

Though we cannot do much outside here, we are lighting few candles and Oil lit lamps at home safely. :)

Now lets move on to today's Recipe. No karthigai deeapam gets fulfill without these Pori Urundai.
It is really simple to make.

Ingredients:

Pori / Puffed Rice - 2 cups
Jaggery powder- 1/4 cup
Water - 1/8 cup or little less than 1/4 cup (just to immerse jaggery)
Elachi powder - 1 pinch
Dry ginger / Sukku powder - 1 pinch
Ghee - 1 tsp (to grease palms)

Preparation:

1. Check for any impurities in Pori, clean it and keep aside.
2. In a large pan/Kadai, add jaggery and water and let it boil.
3. In the mean time, heat another pan and slightly dry roast the Pori. Do not change color, just a min or two will be sufficient. Transfer to a plate and let it cool down.
4.Now check the consistency of Jaggery mix, If you put a drop of it in water, it should not dissolve, that is the rite consistency.
5. Add pori to the jaggery mix and switch off the flame. Stir well and quick.
6.Make sure the jaggery is coated well on the Pori.
7.When it is hot / warm itself, grease your palm with ghee and make balls.

Store them in air tight containers.

Notes:
1. You need to be real fast to make the balls, So if you are new making this, first make in little quantity as mentioned. If you have a helping hand to make balls, you can increase the quantity for sure. I am comfortable with this quantity so I go with this.
2.Adding Sukku powder is optional, But we used to add sukku in almost all Jaggery based recipes.
3.Frying pori is optional, but it gives crispiness for longer time.

Tiffin Sambar (Using Moong Dal)

I have recenly shared an Tiffin Sambar version with Toor dal. This one is with moong dal. Almost the recipe and the process will be similar except few steps and ingredients.

Ingredients:

Moong dal - 1/2 cup
Water - 3 cups ( to cook moong dal)
Mixed veggies of your choice - 1.5 cups (I used, brinjal, carrot, beans, potato, drum stick)
Tomato -2
Pearl Onion- 4-5 (if using regular bellari Use one medium sized)
Turmeric - 1 pinch
Melted Ghee - 1 tsp
Jaggery - 1 tsp
Oil -1 tbsp
Tamarind - small peanut size (soak in water) or 1/4 tsp of concentrate (optional)


Roast and Grind
Channa dal - 1.5 tbsp
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Fenugreek - 5-6 seeds
Red Chili -1-2 (adjust to your taste)
Oil - 1 tsp

To temper:

Oil - 1tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Urad dal - 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Hing - a pinch
Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Preparation:
1. In a vessel, heat 3 cups of water, when it starts rolling and boiling add washed moong dal to it and half close with a lid and cook until the dal cooks well and becomes mashy.
2. In a pan ,Heat a tsp of oil and roast channa dal, coriander seeds, fenugreek one by one.
3.When they are almost(75%) roasted, add cumin seeds and red chilies and roast well. Switch off flame and let it cool down.
4. In the mean time, in another pan, heat a tbsp of oil and saute chopped onions.
5. when raw smell in onion leaves, add all the cut veg, except brinjal and tomato, saute for few mins.
6.Add tomatoes and saute gently. At last add cut brinjals and turmeric powder  and saute well.
7. When the veggies are half cooked, add 3 cups of water and check for salt. let it cook well.
8. Grind the roasted ingredients into a fine powder and add it to the veggie pan.
9.Now it will start thickening a little. Mix well and quick so lumps wont form.
10.Let it cook for few mins, so the raw smell in masala leaves.(if any), If required add Tamarind water. (add tamarind if only the tomatoes are not sour enough for sambar.Otherwise discard tamarind)
11. Now add the cooked dal and mix well. cook until your required consistency. (if it is little thick add little water to adjust consistency).
12. Before switching off the flame mix 1 tsp of jaggery and mix.
13.In a tadka pan heat 1 tbsp of oil and add items listed in "To temper", and add it to the sambar.
14. Garnish with Chopped coriander leaves , Ghee and serve hot with your favorite idli or dosa.

I prefer this sambar for mini idlies, sambar vadai kind of dishes. Suits well for all Pongal, Dosai varieties.

Note:
1. I added just one red chili while grinding, it was perfect spicy for my daughter's taste. You can follow the same measurement if your kids doesnt like spicy foods.
2. For spice lovers, either you can increase the red chilies or add 1 or 2 green chilies while tempering.
3. It will look watery when it is hot, but that consistency suits perfect for soaking mini idlies or vada.
If you like it thick, add only 2 cups of water to cook the veggies, if required, water can be added at final stage.
4. I prefer cooking moong dal in stove top than pressure cook. Even you can add pressure cooked moong dal.(2-3 whistles will be enough to cook)