Onion Tomato Uthappam

Ingredients :

1. Dosa Batter prepared -  1 bowl enough to make 6 dosas.
2. Onion - 2 No chopped to very tiny pieces
3. Tomato - 1 no chopped to very thin piece
4. Green Chilly - 1 No chopped
5. Ginger Chopped-  1 tsp
6. Curry Leaves chopped- few
7. Asafoetida
8. Oil as required
9. Salt as required.

How to Cook.

1. Mix the chopped onion,tomato,ginger,greenchilly,curry leaves and salt,keep this aside.
2. Mix little salt , asafoetida with the dosa batter and keep this aside.
3. Get the dosa thatte / iron griddle  ,oil, Tissue paper  ready for cooking dosa. 
4. When the dosa thatte is hot ,wipe the dosa thatte with oil using a tissue paper. ( You can also use a cloth piece or Onion for wiping the dosa thatte ) .
5. Pour the dosa batter on the dosa thatte.
6. Make concentric circles on the batter with the spatula. 
7. Spread the chopped onion tomato mixture over it.
8. Apply oil over the dosa
9. Cover the dosa with the top of a pan , and cook dosa in low flame for a minute.
10. When the dosa is cooked, pass the spatula around the edges of the dosa to ensure dosa dont stick to the pan.
11. When  cooked , flip the dosa to the other side and again  cover with a pan and cook for 1 minute or less.
12. Now cook for few seconds on high flame.
13. When both sides are cooked, take the dosa from the dosa thatte.
14. Serve hot with chutneys. 

Chicken Biriyani

This is a very special chicken biriyani   .I went through different kinds of Chicken biriyani recipes and this is kind of a blend of Lucknow biriyani (Awadhi  biriyani ) dum style and kerala style biriyani .

Ingredients :

1. Chicken Biriyani -   1 kg
2. Onion - 5  big nos cut  thin lengthwise 
3. Ginger paste-  1 tbsp
4. Garlic paste - 2 tbsp
5. Ginger cut into long strips - 2 tbsp
6. Bay leaves  - 4 Nos
7. Star Anise- 2 nos
8. Cloves- 6 nos
9. Cinnabon sticks- 2 No
10. Black Cardamon - 2 Nos
11. Green Cardamons - 2 Nos
12. Chopped Coriander - 1 Cup
13. Chopped pudina - 1 Cup
14. Saffron - a pinch
15. Milk - 1/4 cup
16. Whole coriander - 2 tbsp
17. Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
18. Shahi Jeera - 1 tsp
19. Garam Masala for chicken gravy-  4 tsp  
20. Curd- 2 Cups
21. Green Chilly slitted- 3 nos
22. Oil as required
23. Ghee as required
24. Lemon Drops 
25. Maida flour prepared as required for final baking stage.
26. Garam Masala for final stage - 2 tsp

For Marination 

1. Curd- 2 tbsp
2. Chilly Powder- 1 tsp
3. Pepper Powder- 1 /2 tsp
4. Ginger Garlic paste- 1 tbsp
5. Turmeric Powder- 1 tsp
6. Salt as required.

How to Cook

Stage 1 :  Initial Preparation

1. Fry the 2 onions  till it turn dark brown.Keep this aside.
2. Soak the saffron in milk and keep this aside.
3. Add the whole coriander, cumins seeds and shahi jeera to a nonstick pan with out oil.Saute for a minute till it start to turn brown .After a while , powder it in a mixie  and keep this aside.

Stage 2 :Marination and Frying Chicken pieces

1. Initially marinate the chicken pieces with the ingredients for marination for 1 hour .
2. Pour oil to the pan , when it is hot , fry the chicken pieces.
3. Fry for around 15 minutes adjusting the flame till it start to turn golden brown.
4. Make sure the chicken  is not fully cooked.

Stage 3 : Preparing the chicken gravy

1. Add ghee to the pan , when it is hot , add the Bay leaves  -2  Nos,Star Anise- 1 no,Cloves-3 nos,Cinnabon sticks- 1 No and saute for a minute.
2. Now add the ginger garlic paste , saute till the raw smell goes.
3. Add the onions ( 3 nos ) and saute till it turn translucent.
4. Add the green chillies ,powdererd masala and garam masala . Saute for a minute.
5. Now add the curd , chopped coriander , chopped pudina ,chicken pieces and cook in low flame for another 15 to 20 minutes .(If you want add  1 Cup water as required / as how much gravy you need for the chicken)

Stage 4  : Cooking Rice.

1. Wash the basmati rice and soak in water for around 20 minutes.
2. After 20 minutes, drain out the water . Keep aside the rice .
3. Add water to the bowl for cooking rice.
4. Add the spices  ( Bay leaves  -2  Nos,Star Anise- 1 no,Cloves-3 nos,Cinnabon sticks- 1 No, Black and Green Cardamon - 2 nos ) , ghee to the water to cook rice.
5. Now when the water start to boil , add the rice , enough salt , lemon drops .
6. Cook for sometime , keep checking how much the rice is cooked.
7. It should not be fully cooked , but 90 % cooked.
8. Keep the rice aside to cool

Stage 5  :Final Baking Stage 

1. Take the pan to cook the biriyani and on the bottom of the pan , sprinkle ghee and spread it over.
2. Now add the chicken gravy to the bottom.
3. Add a layer of rice above the chicken gravy .
4. Sprinkle saffron milk , powdered garam masala , fried onions , chopped pudina and coriander,ginger strips over the rice.
5. Repeat the same until all the rice and chicken are over  with the rice at the top.
6. Now at last add the saffron milk , powdered garam masala , fried onions , chopped pudina and coriander,ginger strips over the rice.
7. Also sprinkle ghee over the top.
8. Now take the maida dough , roll it and spread it around the edges of the pan .
9. Close the pan and make sure you press the lid to the pan so that it gets closed airtight .
10.  Now cook on high  flame for 10 minutes.After 10 minutes , steam will start coming out through the maida dough  and you can get the tempting aroma.
11.  At this stage, cook on low flame for 20 minutes.( You can alternatively use a dosa tawa and place the biriyani vessel over it and cook on low flame )
12.  Now your chicken  biriyani will be ready.Serve hot with pickles, pappad  and salads.

Note : Please refer my recipie for Hyderabad Dum Biriyani for  the final baking stage of biriyani with pictures to refer.

Masala Dosa

Please go through the following post in my blog 

For the Dosa /Idly Batter

http://maluzculinary.blogspot.in/2011/02/idly-dosa-batter.html

For the preparation of Dosa

http://maluzculinary.blogspot.in/2011/03/dosa.html

Ingredients

1. Potatoes- 3 medium sized
2. Onion - 1 No
3. Green Chilly- 2 No
4. Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
5. Turmeric Powder- 1/4 tsp
6. Oil - 1 tbsp
7. Salt as required
8. Curry Leaves .

How to Cook

1. Peel off the potatoes and cut into cubes and set aside.
2. Put the potatoes with enough water in cooker and pressure cook the potatoes for 5 whistles.
3. Wait until the pressure is released from the cooker and open the cooker , Strain the water out.Mash the cooked potatoes well.
4. In a Pan  , pour oil  and when hot , splutter mustard seeds.
5. Add Onion , green chilly , curry leaves and saute till the onions are translucent.
6. Add the cooked potatoes into the mixture along with turmeric powder , required amount of salt and mix it well with the onions. Mash the potatoes again.
7. Add 1/4 cup water and mix it well. Cook for 3 minutes till the gravy becomes thick
8. Garnish with curry leaves and serve hot with puri.

How to prepare masala dosa 

1. Pour the dosa batter to the pan and brush through ghee over the dosa.
2. Close with a vessel and cook for 2 minutes.
3. Add the prepared potato gravy and chutney of your choice.
4. Again close with a vessel and cook for few seconds.
5. Slightly fold the dosa.
6. Serve Hot.

Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biriyani

This is a really easy to make recipe for  yummy delicious aunthentic hyderabadi dum biriyani .

A MUST TRY RECIPE. You should choose the best quality basmati rice for this recipe.

Adding ghee is the speciality of this recipe.The flavour and the aroma of the biriyani is irresistable .

Ingredients

For chicken marinade 

1. Chicken washed and cleaned -1 kg
2. Fried Onions - 1 Cup
3. Garam masala- 1 tbsp
4. Chilly powder- 1 tsp
5. Green Chilly slitted- 3 no
6. Cardamon powder- 1/2 tsp
7. Turmeric Powder- 1 tsp
8. Curd- 1 cup thick
9. Ginger garlic paste- 3 tbsp
10. Ghee - 2  tbsp
11. Salt as required
12. Lemon Juice 2 tbsp
13. Pudina and coriander leaves- 1 cup
14. Ghee -1 tbsp for spreading on the bottom of the pan 

How to Prepare :

1. Take the pan in which you are planning to prepare the dum biriyani .
2. Spread the ghee on the bottom of the pan evenly.
3. Marinate the chicken pieces with the above ingreidents for marinade and marinate it for 1 hour .( atleast  30 minutes ) in the  same pan.
4. Keep this aside.

NOTE :   Always make sure after you cook the rice you should instantly transfer the cooked rice to the chicken pieces and start to bake which will be mentioned in detail later.

For the Rice 

1. Best Quality Basmati Rice ( Preferably long grain rice ) - 3 Cups
2. Cloves- 4 no
3. Bayleaves- 4 nos
4. Star Anise- 4 nos
5. Shahi jeera- 1 tsp
6. Pepper Balls - 5 Nos
7. Cardamon sticks- 2 nos
8. Black cardamon powdered- 1/2 tsp
9. Salt to taste

How to Prepare :

1. Wash the rice and soak the rice in water for half an hour. 
2. Add the ingredients from 2 to 9 into the water and when the water starts to boil , add the rice.
3. Cook for 10 minutes .Stir the rice once in a while and make sure enough water is there.
4. Make sure the rice should not be fully cooked but only 3/4 th cooked.
5. When the rice is 3/4 cooked , you would be able to break the rice with your hand but still not fully cooked.When you bite the rice , you will still feel the raw taste. 

Ingredients  for biriyani

1. 3/4 th cooked rice 
2. Saffron - 1 tsp
3. Milk - 1/2 Cup
4. Marinated chicken
5. Onions - 5 Big
6. Ghee- 5 tbsp
7. Garam Masala- 1 tsp
8. Chopped coriander  leaves - 1 Cup
9. Chopped pudina leaves - 1 Cup
10. Maida Flour - 2 Cups turned to a smooth dough 

Final Stage-Baking the Biriyani 

1. Add the saffron to the milk and keep this aside for half n hour.
2. Deep fry the onions till it turn brown and crispy .Keep this aside.
3. Take the pan where you marinated the chicken pieces . 

4. As soon as the rice is 3/4th cooked transfer a layer of rice over the marinated chicken.

5. Make sure when you add the rice to the marinated chicken , allow some water to come along with it to make sure the biriyani is moist.( donot drain the rice completely )

6. Add few pudina , coriander leaves over the rice.

7. Sprinkle garam masala , fried onions over the rice.

8. Add another layer of rice still allowing some water to come along with the rice.The rice would be over this time.9. Add the saffron milk over the rice .

10. Add coriander and pudina leaves , fried onions over this .

11. Atlast add the ghee over the rice.

12. Now take the maida dough , roll it and spread it around the edges of the pan as shown

13. Close the pan and make sure you press the lid to the pan so that it gets closed airtight .

14. Now cook on high  flame for 10 minutes.After 10 minutes , steam will start coming out through the maida dough  and you can get the tempting aroma which is going to surely water a few mouths .
15. At this stage, cook on low flame for 20 minutes.( You can alternatively use a dosa tawa and place the biriyani vessel over it and cook on low flame )
16. Now your chicken dum biriyani will be ready.Serve hot with pickles, pappad  and salads.

Egg Vegetable Fried Rice

Ingredients :

1. Basmati Rice  - 2 Cups
2. Carrots  chopped -  3 Nos
3. Beans chopped- 2 Cups
4. Green Peas Chopped Frozen - 1 Cup
5. Onions -  1  No cut lengthwise
6. Ginger - Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
7. Garam Masala- 2 tbsp
8. Pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
9. Tomato Sauce- 1 tbsp
10. Soya Sauce- 1 tsp
11. Egg - 3 Nos
12. Bayleaves- 2 Nos
13. Star Anise- 2 No
14. Cloves- 10 Nos
15. Cardamon - 3 Nos
16. Cashewnuts - 10 Nos
17. Raisins  - 10 Nos
18. Chopped coriander.
19. Lemon  Drops
20. Salt as required.
21. Ghee- 3 tbsp
22. Oil - 3 tbsp

How to Cook .

1. Clean the basmati rice and soak in water for 15 minutes.
2. Drain out the water and keep the rice aside.
3. Scramble the egg with pepper powder and salt , keep this aside.
4. Add 1 tbsp ghee and fry the cashewnuts and raisins , keep this aside.
5. Add 1 tbsp oil and fry the onions , keep this aside.
6. Add 1 tbsp ghee to the pan and  fry the cloves , cardamon , star anise and the bayleaves.
7. Add the chopped vegetables , garam masala , ginger garlic paste and close the pan , cook for 10 minutes.
8. Add the cleaned rice , 1 tbsp ghee and stir fry the rice for 15 minutes.
9. Add tomato sauce , soya sauce , chopped coriander and mix well with the rice.Saute for 2 minutes.
10. Add  4 cups of water , salt and bring to boil .
11. When it come to boil add the lemon drops, close the pan and cook in low flame for minimum 30  minutes.
12. After rice is cooked , mix the scrambled egg with the cooked rice .
13. Garnish with fried cashewnuts, raisins , onions , scrambled egg and coriander leaves.

Tomato Rice

This is my 150th recipe to my blog. So this recipe is very special for me.It came out wonderful .So i am sharing it with all of you.Please do try this and let me know. :-)

Ingredients :

1. Basmati Rice  - 2 1/2  Cups
2. Onions -  2  Nos cut lengthwise
3. Onions - 2 Nos  cut lengthwise for frying.
4. Tomato for making puree- 5 Nos
5. Green chilly- 2 Nos 
6. Tomato chopped into cubes for garnishing- 1 No
7. Tomato Sauce- 1 tbsp
8. Ginger Garlic patse - freshly prepared- 1 tbsp
9. Bayleaves- 2 Nos
10. Star Anise- 2 No
11. Cloves- 10 Nos
12. Cardamon - 3 Nos
13. Cashewnuts - 10 Nos
14. Raisins  - 10 Nos
15. Garam Masala- 1 and a half tbsp
16. Jeera powder- 1 tsp
17. Chopped coriander - 1 Cup
18. Salt as required.
19. Lemon drops - 1 tsp
20. Ghee- 2 tbsp
21. Oil - 2 tbsp

How to Cook .

1. Clean the basmati rice and soak in water for 15 minutes.
2. Drain out the water and keep the rice aside.
3. Puree the tomatoes with greenchilles in a mixie and keep this aside.
4. Add 1 tbsp ghee and fry the cashewnuts and raisins , keep this aside.
5. Add 1 tbsp oil and fry the onions , keep this aside.
6. Add 1 tbsp oil to the pan and  fry the cloves , cardamon , star anise and the bayleaves.
7. Now add the onions ,  saute the onions till it turn brown in colour.
8. Add ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell of it goes.
9. Add the  garam masala, jeera powder ,  stir fry of 2 minutes.
10. Add the tomato -green chilly puree , tomato sauce and cook in low flame till the oil start to appear across the sides.( this will take sometime )
11. Add the cleaned rice , 1 tbsp ghee , coriander leaves chopped and stir fry the rice for 15 minutes.
12. Add half of the fried onions , cashewnuts and raisins to the rice.
13. Add  5 cups of water , salt and bring to boil .
14. When it come to boil add the lemon drops close the pan and cook in low flame for 30 minutes.( Please do check after 20 minutes whether the rice is cooked, sometimes it might take little more longer. I took approximately around 30 minutes)
15. After the  rice is cooked garnish with fried cashewnuts, raisins , chopped tomatoes and coriander leaves.

Vegetable Rice

Ingredients :

1. Basmati Rice  - 3 Cups
2. Carrots  chopped -  3 Nos
3. Beans chopped- 1/2 kg
4. Onions -  3  Nos cut lengthwise
5. Onions - 2 Nos  cut lengthwise for frying.
6. Ginger - Garlic paste - 3 tsp
7. Bayleaves- 2 Nos
8. Star Anise- 2 No
9. Cloves- 10 Nos
10. Cardamon - 3 Nos
11. Cashewnuts - 10 Nos
12. Raisins  - 10 Nos
13. Garam Masala- 2 tbsp
14. Jeera powder- 1 tsp
15. Chopped coriander.
16. Salt as required.
17. Vinegar - 1 tbsp
18. Ghee- 3 tbsp
19. Oil - 3 tbsp

How to Cook .

1. Clean the basmati rice and soak in water for 15 minutes.
2. Drain out the water and keep the rice aside.
3. Add 1 tbsp ghee and fry the cashewnuts and raisins , keep this aside.
4. Add 1 tbsp oil and fry the onions , keep this aside.
5. Add 1 tbsp ghee to the pan and  fry the cloves , cardamon , star anise and the bayleaves.
6. Now add the onions , 2 tbsp oil and saute the onions till it turn brown in colour.
7. Add the chopped vegetables , garam masala ,chopped coriander, jeera powder , ginger garlic paste and stir fry of 10 minutes.
8. Add the cleaned rice , 1 tbsp ghee and stir fry the rice for 15 minutes.
9. Add  6 cups of water , salt and bring to boil .
10. When it come to boil add the vinegar, close the pan and cook in low flame for 35 minutes.( Please do check after 20 minutes whether the rice is cooked, sometimes it might take little more longer. I took approximately around 35 minutes)
11. After the  rice is cooked garnish with fried cashewnuts, raisins , onions and coriander leaves.

VellaAppam

Ingredients:

1. Long grain Rice (pachari)- 2 glass
2. Coconut grated-1glass
3. Cooked Rice-1 glass
4. Jeera-A pinch
5. Sugar- 3 tbsp
6. Yeast-1 tbsp
7. Salt to Taste 

How to Grind  

1:Wash the long grain rice (pachari) and jeera well.Soak in water for 6 hours.

2:After 6 hours , drain it and keep it aside.

3:Put all the ingredients in a mixie with enough water to get a smooth batter.

4:Keep the batter for 6 hours in room temperature.

5:Mix the batter well with a spatula.Now the batter is ready for making smooth appam.

How to Make Appam

1:Heat the pan/appam chatti used for cooking appam.

2:Pour 1 ladle full of appam batter in the pan .

3:Take the appam chatti / pan with both your  hands and spread the batter by rotating the pan in one direction . Make sure more batter is concentrated in the middle.

4: Close the appam thatte with the lid.

5: Cook in low flame for 2 -3 minutes until the edges of the vellappam turn light brown in colour.

6: When it is done , take the vellappam slowly with a spatula.

Kerala Style Chicken Biriyani

Ingredients:

1. Chicken - 11/2 Kg
2. Basmati Rice - 1 Kg
3. Curd- 2 tbsp
4. Onion - 8 No cut lengthwise
5. Onion Shallots - 15 No
6. Ginger- big Piece
7. Garlic- 10 pods
8. Tomato -3
9. Coriander Leaves Chopped- 1 Cup
10. Mint Leaves chopped - 1/2 Cup
11. Garam Masala- 2 tsp
12. Turmeric Powder- 1 tsp
13. Pepper Powder- 1 tsp
14. Chilly Powder- 3 tsp
15. Green Chilly- 2 No
16. Grated  coconut- 1/4 Cup
17. Lemon Juice- 2 tbsp
18. Ghee
19. Oil to Fry
20. Cinnamon-4
21. Cloves-5
22. Bay Leaves
23. Cardamon-10
24. Cashew Nuts - 20
25. Raisins-10

For Marinade

1. Chilly powder-1tsp

2. Turmeric powder-1tsp

3. Pepper powder-1/2tsp

4. Curd-1tbsp

5. Salt-to taste

6. Garam masala powder-1tsp

How to Cook

A ) Chicken

1. Mix all the ingredients for marination along with chicken in a bowl.Keep aside for 1 hour.

2.  Heat  oil in a pan.Fry the marinated chicken pieces ( till 3/4th ).

3.  Drain and keep aside

B) Rice

1. Wash the rice.

2. Add cloves,cinnamon,and cardamom to the water and boil it.

3. To the boiling water ,add rice and allow it to cook(3/4 only)

4. When rice is ¾ th cooked, add ½ tsp ghee and lemon juice into it.

5. Switch off the gas and drain the rice and keep aside.

C)  Frying

1. Fry cashew nuts ,raisins and keep it aside.

2. In a pan fry grated coconut(till light brown)and keep it aside.

3. In a Pan  heat oil and add sliced big onion and fry till it become golden colour.Drain and keep aside .

4. Mix all the fried items( cashew nuts, raisins, coconut , +onion fry ) together .Keep  it aside

D) Gravy

1. Crush small onion,green chilly ,ginger ,garlic together . In a big kadai heat oil and add this mix and fry it till light brown

2. Add sliced big onion to the kadai and saute till onion turn light brown.

3. Add tomato , chilly powder, garam masala, turmeric powder to the above mixture one by one and saute well.

4. Add 1/2cup of mint leaves +coriander leaves +2tsp curd.Stir well.

5. To the mixture add  ( C)  fried Cashew nuts, raisins, grated coconut , sliced big onion.

6. Add fried chicken and small amount of water to this.Mix well and cook till the chicken gets soften . When the gravy appears to be dark brown colour and the chicken get soften turn off the gas.

E)Bake the rice with chicken.

1. Take a big vessel and grease it with ghee.Then at the bottom of the vessel add rice, then add chicken with gravy and go on doing this alternatively till the rice and the gravy gets over.

2. Garnish with  Coriander leaves .

3. Close the vessel with a tight lid.

4.  Double boil the mixture for 20 minutes.

Easy Jeera Rice

Ingredients

1. Basmati Rice - 1 cup
2. Onion ( Sabola ) - 4 No   ( 3 for the rice and 1 for deep frying )
3. Cloves- 5 No
4. Bay Leaves-  1
5. Cumin Seeds ( Jeera) - 4 tbsp
6. Cardamon- 4 No
7. Coriander leaves- 1/2 cup
8. Green chilly- 1  No
9. Cashew nuts
10. Lemon drops
11. Raisins
12. Oil as required
13. Ghee -2 tbsp
14. Salt as required.

 How to Cook

1. Wash the basmati rice just once , drain and keep it aside.
2. Add 2 tbsp ghee to a pan , add the cumin seeds, cardamon,cloves ,bay leaves and wait till they splutter.
3. When they splutter add onion and saute till translucent.
4. Add the coriander leaves , green chilly and saute for 2 minutes.
5. Add the basmati rice to the mixture and saute till it becomes dry.
6. Add 2 cups of water  , salt , lemon drops  and when it starts boiling , close the pan and cook for 20- 25 minutes.
7. Fry the onions, cashew nuts and raisins.
8. Garnish with fried onion , cashewnuts, raisins, coriander leaves.
9. Serve hot with chicken curry or salad.

Curd Rice

Ingredients

1. Rice- 1 Cup
2. Curd- 2 Cups
3. Milk- 1/4 Cup
4. Curry Leaves - as required
5. Salt- as required
6. Water- as required
7. Green Chilly- 2 Nos
8. Red Chilly - 2 Nos
9. Urud Dal- 1 tsp 
10. Mustard Seeds- 2 tsp
11. Curry Leaves- as required

How To Cook .

1. Boil  water and cook the rice.  Drain the rice and keep it aside
2. After half and hour , mix 2 cups curd, milk with the rice and keep it aside.
3. Take some oil in Pan and splutter mustard seeds. 
4. After it splutters , add  Urud Dal, red chilly, green chilly, curry leaves.
5. Add this mixture to the curd mixed rice and mix again well.
6. Serve with pickle , pappad.

Vegetable Pulao

This is an easy recipe !!

Ingredients

1. Basmati Rice  -  2 cups
2. Water - 3 cups
3. Pepper Corns - 1 tsp
4. Cinnamon - 3 inch piece
5. Cardamons - 5 Nos
6. Cloves- 10 No
7. Bay Leaves-4 No
8. Cumin Seeds-1 tsp
9. Green Peas - 1 cup
10. Cauliflower - 1cup
11. Beans- 1 cup
12. Onion- 2 No thinnly sliced
13. Ginger-2 tsp chopped
14. Garlic- 2 tsp chopped
15. Green Chillies- 3 No chopped
16. Coriander Leaves Chopped - 2 tbsp
17. Methi Leaves Chopped - 2 tbsp

For Garnish 

1. Onion - 3 No
2. Cashew Nuts - 10 No
3. Raisins -  15 No

How to Cook.

1. Soak rice in water for 30 minutes and keep aside.
2. Wash the florets and soak the cauliflower florets for 30 minutes .Keep this aside.
3. Deep fry the onions till brown and keep it aside.
4. Fry the cashew nuts , raisins and keep it aside.
5. In a pan , add 6 tbsp ghee . Add the cardamon , cumin seeds , cloves,pepper corns ,bay leaves , cinnamon  and saute till it splutters.
6. When they splutter , add the onions and saute till the onions turn translucent.
7.  Make a paste  with coriander and methi leaves, add to the mixture.
8. Add the chopped ginger and garlic , green chillies and saute. 
9. Add cauliflower florets , green peas, beans  and saute for 2 minutes.
10. Add the  drained rice.
11. Saute for 3-4 minutes taking care not to burn the rice kernels.
12. Add 3 cups of water , 2 tbsp lemon ,salt and bring to boil.
13. Reduce heat and cook covered for 20 - 25 minutes .
14. Once it is cooked , garnish with fried onion, cashew nuts, raisins and coriander leaves.
15. Serve Hot.

Vegetable Fried Rice

This is my moms signature recipes. She does it so well.  I love her fried rice and her Manchurian.  

Ingredients

1. Rice  - 1 1/2 Cups
2. Water  - 3 Cups
3. Onion cut lengthwise - 3 No
4. Ghee - 2 tbsp
5. Garam Masala - 3 tsp
6. Ginger-Garlic Paste-1 tbsp
7. Green Peas - 1 Cup ( frozen is fine / cook the green peas separately)
8. Carrot  - 4 No  (cut thin and lengthwise )
9. Beans cut into pieces as diamond shapes - 2 cups
10. Soya Sauce - 1 tsp ( optional )
11. Lemon 2 or 3 drops
12. Cardamon, Cloves , Bay Leaf
13. Cashew nuts, Raisins
14. Oil- as required.
15. Coriander leaves

How To Cook

1. Wash the rice just once and keep aside.
2. Heat ghee in a pan and fry the rice in ghee with Cardamon, Cloves , Bay leaf  for 10 minutes  .Make sure the flame is adjusted so that the rice wont get burnt
3. In a vessel add water , rice , little salt and cook for some time.  When  the rice is about to be fully cooked , switch off the flame , add 3 drops of lemon , then drain the rice
4. Open the vessel after 10 mins  ( please  make sure rice is not fully cooked before switching off the flame, otherwise rice will be overcooked). Keep aside the drained rice.
5. In a pan, deep fry the onion in oil / ghee  .  Also fry the cashew nuts and raisins.  Keep the fried items aside.
6. In a pan add oil , add the beans , ginger-garlic paste, garam masala cover it for sometime until it gets semi cooked.
7. Add the carrots and cover it until it gets cooked.
8. Add frozen green peas and let it get cooked.
9. Make sure to  add required amount of salt in between.
10. Take a large flat bowl and add the rice to the bottom, spread the vegetables over it . Keep on adding rice and vegetables alternatively until both are over.
11. Adding soya sauce to the rice  ( 1 tsp)  in between is optional.
12. Add the fried onion, cashew nuts and raisins on top of the rice .
13. Garnish with coriander leaves.
14. Serve hot with Manchurian or salad.

TIP : Before you cook your rice , soak the rice in water for 15 to 30 minutes. This makes the rice to cook fast and also more digestable.

Idi Appam / Noolappam ( Kerala Type ) / Rice -Coconut Noodles

Idiappam is an easy recipe . It is cooked in steam and it makes idiappam tasty and soft.  You will need to have a idiappam maker.  Varieties are available in the store. Even a pressure cooker without the weight can be used for steaming.Steaming the idiappam in banana leaves gives it more taste.

Ingredients

1) Rice Flour - 1 1/2 cup
2) Water -  as required to get a smooth dough.
3) Coconut grated-1 cup
4) Required amount of salt.

How to Cook

1) Boil water.
2)Add the salt and boiled water  in small amounts to the rice flour , mix it with a big spoon  until we get a soft dough . Keep it for cooling.  After it gets cooled , mix the dough gently with our hands.

NOTE : If using the ordinary fried rice flour , add 1 1/2 cups water to 2  cups  fried rice flour .  But make sure you add little water and keep checking whether the dough is soft and accordingly add required amount of water.
When you use NIRAPARA or any other branded rice flour , the ratio of water to rice flour to be used will always be given at the back side of the packet.

 Refer picture below of the dough prepared which is to be put inside the idiappam maker .

Dough for Idiappam

3) Set the idiappam in the idiappam maker as given below.( Refer PICTURE B)
   Steps for the same are given below.   
Step 1  : Idiappam Maker is shown in (1).This is a cylindrical vessel with a lid on top and a metal strain at the bottom . The lid has a handle in the middle which , when rotated will squeeze the content inside out through the strain.You will have 3 or 4 options of the strains to be selected out of which you will require to take the strain with the smallest holes  and put in the bottom by opening the bottom part by again turning.

Metal Strainer

                                                     

Step 1 - 4

Step 2:  Open the idiappam maker by turning  the lid. (2)
Step 3: Remove the handle part and stuff the idiappam dough mix into it (3)
Step 4: After stuffing the idiappam dough mix , put the lid back. (4)

 4) Take the vessel which you are going to use for steaming the idiappam.  Spread some coconut on bottom of the vessel.Sqeeze out the idiappam  to form small circular mounds  over the coconut as shown.

5)Sprinkle coconut over the squeezed idiappam.  Close the vessel for steaming. Cook for 15 minutes.
The YUMMY IDIAPPAM is ready to be served.