Lemon Rice/Chitranna#Alphabet Challenge

Chitranna in Kannada is also known as lemon rice. It's a rice-based dish widely prepared in South India. Lemon rice is one of the most popular South Indian rice recipes. It is a real comfort food. Quick and easy to make with all ingredients in your pantry. This can be made with leftover cooked rice, is a crunchy, flavorful, tasty and tangy dish that is easy to make and tastes so good. 

Lemon juice, fried nuts and spices combine perfectly to give this steamed rice an amazing spicy, tangy and nutty flavor. The nuts add a crunch for the perfect rice dish texture. This vegan lemon rice recipe is sure to become one of your favorite rice dishes and gets ready in just 10 minutes.

1 Cup = 200 Ml

Serves Two
Ingredients

¾ Cup Rice 
3 - 4 Tablespoon Oil
A pinch Asafoetida
1 Teaspoon Mustard seeds
2 Sprig Curry leaves
3 Whole Dried Red chillies
1 Teaspoon Level Turmeric powder
2 Tablespoons Lemon juice or to taste
3 Tablespoons Raw Peanuts
1 Teaspoon Urad dal
1 Teaspoon Chana dal
½ Teaspoon Grated Ginger - optional
Salt to taste

Method

Wash and cook the rice with salt till done, do not over cook it. Drain and let it cool completely.
Heat oil in a wok / kadai, add mustard seeds and chana dal and urad dal let it mustard seeds splutter and the dals start to brown. Immediately add asafoetida, curry leaves, ginger, red chilli and peanuts. Saute them well till the peanuts turn dark brown. Then add turmeric powder followed by rice. 

Turn around a few times so the rice is completely mixed and is warmed. Add salt and lemon juice to the rice and mix well.

Serve hot. Enjoy with Chutney, raita and papad.
Labels: Cooked Rice, Lemon juice, Peanuts, Urad dal, Chana dal, South Indian, Main Course, Vegan, Gluten free, Vegetarian, Serves Two, Alphabet Challenge

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Dill With Chana Dal & Potato#Alphabet Challenge

Dill leaves or Shepu as we call in Marathi, is a super nutritious and healthy leafy greens and it's also vegan meatless! .
This green vegetable can be prepared in many ways and can be enjoyed with rice and rotis both.

Ingredients
1 Cup Heaped Chana Dal/Gram lentil
2 Medium Potatoes - cubed
1 Large Onion - sliced
1 Teaspoon Heaped Red Chilly Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
½ Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
2 - 3 Tablespoons Dill / Shepu- chopped
½ Cup Oil
1 Teaspoon Cumin seeds 

Method

Boil gram lentil with salt, chili powder, and turmeric, when gram lentil half done add potato cubes, cover and cook till potatoes tender, add soya bhaji / dill, cook for 5 minutes.
For The Tempering

Heat oil half cup, fry onion light golden and add the cumin seeds and fry then add this to the dal, mix serve with paratha.
Labels: Alphabet Challenge, Dill, Lentils, Chana Dal, Potato, Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten free, Main course, Asian Cuisine

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Quick & Easy Vermicelli /Semiya Upma

This is popular South Indian breakfast.  A quick and easy recipe, this is made from vermicelli, a type of pasta. This is so satisfying and delicious to prepare when you want a quick and easy breakfast.

When I was working my  South Indian  friends used to bring different types of vermicelli upma  for tiffin / lunch box and enjoyed having them.  This is one of the most simple and quick upma to prepare.  Instead of cashew nuts you can add raw peanuts and fry them till brown.

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons Oil
1 Teaspoon Mustard seeds
1 Teaspoon Cumin seeds
1 Teaspoon Urad dal

1 Teaspoon Chana Dal
A Sprig Curry leaves

2 Dried Red Chillies
10-12 Cashew nuts
1 Medium Onion - chopped
1 - 2 Green chillies - choppedSalt to taste

A Pinch of Sugar

1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric powder

1 Cup Vermicelli
 2 Cups Water  or as Required

1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
MethodHeat oil in kadai, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds,  dals, curry leaves and cashew nuts.

Saute them  till the dals are golden.  Add onion and green chilly, fry till translucent. Add salt and turmeric powder and vermicelli fry for a  minute. Slowly add water.  Bring this to a rolling boil and then cover the pan  and let it cook on medium low flame for a while to let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes.  Take  off the lid and check if the water has evaporated and the vermicelli is cooked.  

If there is till a little moisture  in the kadai then cook on high flame for minute stirring lightly.  Switch off the flame, cover  the kadai and let it stand  for 2 -3 minutes all the moisture will be absorbed by the vermicelli. Sprinkle lemon juice  and serve hot.

Delicious Vermicelli Upma is ready.

Labels: Mustard seeds, Urad dal, Chana Dal,  Curry leaves, Cashewnuts, Onion, Vermicelli, Pasta, South Indian, Breakfast, Lunch Box

CHANA DAL BARFI

This barfi is a lengthy process but worth the effort.  The most time taken is to cook the dal in milk or else it's a quick and easy barfi.

When boiling this dal take a wide thick bottom kadai to cook the dal, if you see the pics I, first used a big saucepan then changed it to a kadai, which quickened the process. It took me almost 2 hours to cook and dry the milk.  I just left it on low flame stirring in between after every 15 minutes,  Only in the last 10 to 15 minutes when the milk was nearly in evaporating stage I stirred it continuously.  So you can just leave it on low flame and finish all your cooking, then attend to it.  

Ingredients
1 Cup Heaped Chana Dal
1+1/4 Cup Heaped Tea Sugar
12 Skinned Almonds - sliced
1 Cup Ghee - I used Desi Ghee / Pure Ghee
1 Liter Milk
1/4 Teaspoon Cardamom Powder
A pinch Yellow food color

Method

Wash and soak the dal for 2  hours in water.

  

After 2 hours again wash the dal and boil it in milk in a pan / kadai.  

Cook till soft, when the milk starts evaporating , at this stage stir it continuously or else it may burn (so keep an eye on it ). 

When the dal is cooked and milk evaporated then immediately blend it in a small blender by placing a towel on the jar in case it opens with it the heat.  Blend to a fine paste.

Heat  ghee in a heavy bottom pan / kadai, add dal paste stir continuously, for about 10 minutes at least on low flame or till you get a aroma and it also starts bubbling and the ghee is absorbed. 

Now add  sugar, food color and cardamon powder keep stirring again continuously on low flame. Cook till the mixture starts to leave the sides of pan and starts to  form a ball in the center, remove in a well greased tray and press it to level it ( could not take pics at this stage since I had to stir this continuously). 

Decorate with sliced almonds. Leave to set, for an hour then cut in cubes and again leave it to cool completely for about 6 to 8 hours .
   

Store it in airtight containers, for a day or two out and then in the fridge ( since it has milk and will mildew quickly).  

This barfi is really yummy taste as though its brought from the sweet shop.

These are packed for my Diwali party... you too make and enjoy.

Sending this to MLLA , hosted by Cooking with Siri which completes 100th this month

Labels : Chana Dal, Lentils, Festival Sweets, Barfi

Puran Poli

March 18, 2014

Puran Poli is a Maharashtrian speciallity prepared for Holi Festival. This is also called Holige or Obbattu in Kannada. This is difficult to make and requires a lot of patience but once you make it 2 -3 times and master it, this is a pleasure to make. While you are preparing the stuffing called puran the aroma of it fills the house and I sure the neighbours also know that Puran Poli is being prepared in someones house. The aroma and flavour is so strong and delciious, one just waits till the Puran Poli is ready. H loves this so much that all the effort put into making this gives you joy seeing him eat and relish the Puran Poli.

Ingredients
For the dough
1/2 cup Maida (All purpose flour)
1/2 cup Wheat flour
1 Tablespoon oil
1/2 Teaspoon salt
Water to knead dough

For the stuffing
1 Cup Chana dal (Bengal Gram)
1 Teaspoon Cardamom powder
A pinch of nutmeg powder
A pinch of salt
1 Teaspoon Ginger powder
1/2  Cup Jaggery - grated
1/2  Cup Sugar

For the rolling
1 cup Rice flour

Ghee for smearing

Method

For the stuffing

Wash the chana dal thoroughly, soak it for 15 minutes and cook in pressure cooker with sufficient water soft and paste-like. Strain and drain all the water and grind it in a mixer till it forms a smooth paste. In a kadai place the paste jaggery, sugar, salt, cardamon, nutmeg and ginger powder and place it on a medium flame stirring continuously till it forms a ball (see pics ). Remove it on a plate and let is cool. The Puran it ready. Make equal 10 equal balls and keep aside.

For the dough
Place the both the flours in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Add a little water and knead this into a smooth, medium-firm dough, adding more water as required and knead it . 

In a another bowl add oil salt and 3 tablespoon water and mix it well till the salt melts then add the dough and knead well till it is smooth and form a string like dough (see pics).
Divide the dough into 10 equal portions and keep aside. The size of dough should smaller than the filling (see pics above).

Rolling the PoliClean and flour a rolling surface. Take one ball of dough and flatten it with your fingers. Roll it out into a small circle. Now place a ball of stuffing into the center of this circle. Fold the edges of the circle over the paste and pinch together to seal. Remove the excess dough. Flatten this ball gently with your fingers and thus make rest of the balls with the stuffing and keep covered.
To roll this ball take a newspaper and cut it into a big circle, and place it on the rolling board, take rice flour for rolling and roll it like you make chapattis, roll lightly using very light pressure or else all the stuffing will spill out. Keep on rotating the newspaper as you are rolling do lift the poli with your hand. When rolled lightly dust with soft cloth and remove the excess flour from the top.

Heat a tava till hot, on a medium flame. Place the rolled out poli with help of the newspaper on the tava again with the cloth remove the excess flour and let it cook till brown dots appear on the bottom. Flip with a spatula now, cook till small brown dots begin to appear on the lower surface. The Puran Poli will begin to give of a lovely cooked aroma now. Remove from the fire, place it on a butter paper and smear it on either side with ghee. Serve with a dollop of ghee.

Labels: Breads, Festival Sweets, Healthy, Indian, Sweets & Desserts, Vegan, Puran Poli, Maharastrian Cuisine, Maharashtra, Chana Dal, Stuffed Flatbreads