PUDINA RICE

Mint is an aromatic herb and is used all over the world. Mint has lot of health benefits. It is good for skin and is used as a breath freshener. This herb is used to cure stomach ache, chest pains and common cold.

The recipe given below is very easy to prepare. It is healthy, delicious and can be prepared with cooked rice or left over rice. Mint rice can be prepared for tiffin box.

INGREDIENTS

Cooked Basmati rice      1 cup
Garlic chopped               1 tbsp
Sunflower/oliveOil        1 tbsp
Salt to taste

FOR WET GRIND

Pudina/ mint leaves       1 cup
Green chilies                    1-2
Coconut                             2 tbsp
Ginger chopped               1 tbsp
Juice of 1  lemon

 METHOD

In a blender blend all the ingredients for wet grind into a fine paste. Keep it aside.

Heat oil in a wok/ kadai, add the chopped garlic, sauté for a minute on medium fire.

Add the wet grind and sauté for a minute ,add the rice and incorporate it well on low heat. Add salt to taste. Turn off the fire.

Serve hot with raita and pappads.

Note : Any rice can be used .Here I am using basmati rice.

MUSHROOM VEGETABLE PULAO

Basmati is a fragrant, long grained rice traditionally found in North India. It is gluten free and low in fat. It contains amino acids, folic acid and is low in sodium and has no cholesterol. Mushrooms are consumed for their nutritional and medicinal value. They are easily found in markets.

Button mushroom is the most common variety of mushroom consumed all over the world. The white button mushroom is sold as fresh mushroom or is canned and used for soups, sauces and other food products.

Vegetable pulao is a very simple dish and easy to prepare. This makes a great lunch box recipe too. Onion, tomato raita goes well with this dish.  It is loaded with vegetables and kids love to eat.
INGREDIENTS

Mushroom             100 gm
Cauliflower           4-5 florets
Carrot                      1
Potato small          1
Tomato medium 1
Green chili             1-2
Garlic (indian)      8-9
Ginger                      1"
Pudina leaves        1/2 cup

Turmeric                1/4 tsp
Cinamom               2"
Cloves                     3
Cardamom            2

Rice                          1 teacup

Ghee                         2 tsp
Oil                             2 tsp
Salt to taste

FOR GARNISHING

Onion                      1
Capsicum               1
Raisins                    2 tbsp

METHOD

Chop all the vegetables, mushroom and pudina leaves. Make a paste of garlic and ginger.

Wash the rice and keep it aside.

Heat a tsp oil and 2 tsp ghee in a kadai/deep pan. Add cinnamon, cloves and cardamom on low fire for a minute.

Add chopped carrot, potato, cauliflower, chilli, tomato and mushroom. Add turmeric powder and garlic ginger paste and sauté for 2-3 minutes.

Add rice, salt and mix it properly with the vegetables. Sauté for 5 minutes and turn off the heat. Add pudina leaves.

Add 1 and half teacup water and let it rest for half an hour.

Transfer the rice from kadai to a vessel. Keep it inside  a pressure cooker  and cook for 4 whistles. When it cools down open the lid.

Heat 1 tsp oil and add finely chopped onion, fry till it changes colour. Add chopped capsicum and raisins and saute for 3 minutes on low heat. Season with salt. Turn off the heat and garnish it on the pulao.

Serve hot with raita and papads.

IDIYAPPAM

Idiyappam is a traditional breakfast dish of Kerala. It is also a traditional dish of Tamil nadu, Andhra pradesh, Karnataka and Sri lanka.

Main ingredient is rice flour which is made into a dough using boiling water and pressed into a noodle form and steamed. This is served with variety of side dishes like chicken stew, cauliflower kurma, coconut milk, vegetable stew, chicken curry, egg curry etc.

INGREDIENTS

Rice flour            1 cup
Boiling water      1 cup
Oil                            1 tbsp
Coconut grated   1/2 cup
Salt to taste

METHOD

Take 1 cup rice flour in a large vessel, add salt and mix well.

Take boiling water and pour it little by little into the rice flour and mix well with a spatula. Gather it quickly and form a moist dough with your hand while still the dough is warm. The dough should not stick to your fingers. ( For 1 cup rice flour little less than 1 cup boiling water is required).

For making idiyappam we need a idiyappam maker or nazhi and 3 idli molds. Grease the idli molds with oil.

Divide the dough into three balls. Add a ball to the idiyappam maker and press it into a idli mold in concentric circles. Sprinkle grated coconut over it. Make sure it is not thick or it won't cook properly.

Repeat the same procedure and press the other two balls into the other two  idli molds.

Keep the idli molds into an ordinary steamer or a pressure cooker and steam for 10 minutes.

Once it cools down take out the idli molds and demold the idiyappam with a spatula into a service dish.

Serve it hot with vegetable stew/ coconut chutney/ chicken curry.

RICE VERMECELLI WITH CHICKEN

Rice vermicelli are also known as rice noodles or rice sticks. They are made from rice and in the form of very thin rice noodles. They are used in soups, stir fry and salad.

INGREDIENTS

Chicken breast fillet  cut in cubes                   150 gm
Rice vermicelli                                                        150 gm
Sweet corn kernels( boiled)                              2 tbsp
Capsicum   cut in cubes                                       2 tbsp
Spring onion                                                            2 tbsp
Garlic cloves                                                            5-6
Worcestershire sauce                                          2 tbsp
Tomato sauce                                                         2 tbsp
Soya sauce                                                               3 tbsp
Olive oil                                                                     1 tbsp
OR Sesame oil                                                          2 tsp
Pepper powder                                                       2-3  tsp
Chilli flakes (optional)
Salt to taste

METHOD 

In a large bowl of warm water place the noodles or 15-20 minutes or till they become soft but a bit crunchy. Drain in a colander and keep it aside.

Heat a tsp of oil on medium heat in a large wok and add the garlic. Saute for 2-3 seconds, then add capsicum and sweet corn kernels stir fry for a minute and transfer to a bowl.

Add  a tsp oil  and chicken and stir fry for 3-4 minutes or until cooked. Add 1 tsp of tomato sauce, 1 tsp soya sauce, 1 tsp worcestershire sauce and salt

Add the vegetables, vermicelli, soya sauce, tomato sauce and worcestershire sauce . Toss and mix them well. Add pepper powder or chilli flakes. If needed add salt.

Garnish with spring onions. Serve immediately.

MUSHROOM FRIED RICE

Basmati is a fragrant, long grained rice traditionally found in North India. It is gluten free and low in fat. It contains amino acids, folic acid and is low in sodium and has no cholesterol. Mushrooms are consumed for their nutritional and medicinal value. They are easily found in markets.

Button mushroom is the most common variety of mushroom consumed all over the world. The white button mushroom is sold as fresh mushroom or is canned and used for soups, sauces and other food products.

I had some home grown celery and spring onions. Celery gives a unique taste and flavour to the rice. This recipe is easy to prepare.    Saute the garlic, celery and mushrooms and add the cooked rice.

INGREDIENTS

Basmati rice                        1 cup
Mushroom                           200gms
Onion                                    1
Celery                                    2 tbsp
Olive oil                                1-2tbsp
Spring onions chopped     3 tbsp
Pepper to taste
Salt to taste

METHOD

Wash and chop the mushrooms, onion, celery and spring onions.

Add 5-6 cups of water in a thick bottomed pan, when water starts boiling add washed basmati rice. Cook in low to medium flame. When the rice is cooked ( al dente) strain it in a colander. Spread the rice in a plate, season it with salt and pepper and keep it aside. Rice has to cool down completely.

Heat 1-2 tbsp olive oil in a wok and on medium heat add garlic, spring onion bulbs and celery saute for a minute.

Add mushrooms and saute till the water released from mushrooms are absorbed. Season with pepper and salt.

Add the rice and mix it sell. Add the spring onions and turn off the heat.
Serve hot with sauce.

APPAM WITHOUT YEAST

Appam is a south Indian pancake made with fermented rice batter and coconut. It is a popular food in Kerala, Tamil nadu and Srilanka. It is eaten as breakfast or dinner.

INGREDIENTS

Raw rice                  1 tea cup
Coconut water       1 tea cup
Water                       1  1/2 tea cup
Sugar                        2  tsp
Fenugreek               1/2 tsp
Urad dal                   1 tsp
Coconut grated        1 tbsp
Cooked rice              1 tbsp
Salt to taste

METHOD  

Wash the raw rice, fenugreek and urad dal three times. Soak everything together in 1 teacup coconut water and 1 1/2 teacup water for 4-5 hours.

Add sugar, grated coconut, salt and cooked rice to the above ingredients and blend it in a blender to a smooth paste. The consistency of the batter will be thinner than dosa batter.

Ferment it for 4-5 hours.

Appam kadai. This type of nonstick pan is used to make appam. Both sides it has got handles which helps to swirl the appam batter.

Heat a non stick frying pan/kadhai and on medium to low heat  add a ladle of batter in the centre and swirl the pan around. Cover with a lid ,when the edges turn golden brown take it out into a serving plate. Do not flip and cook.

Serve hot with kurma /chutney /coconut milk/  chicken curry.

KERALA STYLE VETTAPPAM

This dish is made in southern India and there is a particular utensil to make this dish. There are two types of paniyaram - one is the sweet one and other the salty one. It is crisp from outside and soft from inside. They are gluten free.

This dish is very easy to prepare. It is prepared with dosa/idli batter, finely chopped onions, ginger, curry leaves and green chillies are used. It can be eaten as an evening snack.

Whenever we used to have guests at home my mom used to prepare this. It tastes delicious and doesn't take much time to prepare.

INGREDIENTS

Idli/dosa batter                           2 cups
Finely chopped ginger              2'
Grated carrot                              half cup
Finely chopped onion.              1 large
Curry leaves finely chopped.   2-3 sprigs
Green chillies finely chopped  2
Refined oil/coconut oil

METHOD 

In a large bowl mix carrot, ginger, onion, green chilies and idli/soda batter. Check for salt anf if required add it.

Heat paniyaram utensil and when it is hot add one spoon of oil and grease the moulds. Add the batter into each mould and cook for some time, turn it upside down gently and cook till done.

Serve with sambhar or chutney.

Note: for chutney, sambar, dosa/ idli batter you can check out the recipe in this same site.

UNNIAPPAM KERALA STYLE

Unni appam is a traditional, tasty and popular snack of Kerala (south India). Unni means small and appam means rice cake. Unni appam is prepared from rice,jaggery, banana, cardamom powder, ghee and coconut pieces.

For making unni appam you need special vessel/ebelskiver/ paniyaram moulds. Bananas and cardamom powder with small bits of coconut pieces fried in ghee brings out a unique taste and flavour. My whole family loves this snack, specially my son and it is our favourite evening snack.

INGREDIENT

Boil rice                         1  1/2 teacup
Bananas(small)            3
Jaggery                          1 teacup
Cardamom                    2-3
Coconut thin bits or
Cashew raisins             2 tbsp
Ghee
Oil

METHOD

Rinse and soak rice overnight in water.

Drain the water from the rice. In a blender add the rice, powdered jaggery, bananas and cardamom pods and blend into fine paste.

Fry the coconut bits or cashew raisins in ghee till golden brown in colour and add to the batter.

Let it rest for 2-3 hours.

Heat oil or ghee(clarified butter) in a paniyaram pan/ unni appam pan, almost half the mould should be covered in oil.

When the pan becomes hot, lower the fire to low heat and add a tablespoon of batter, it should cover 3/4 th of the mould.

When the unni appam becomes golden brown, turn the unni appam with a spoon or wooden stick and cook the other side to a golden brown.

Once cooked remove and drain in a kitchen towel.

Add oil in the mould and again repeat the same process with the rest of the batter.

Tasty unni appam are ready and can be served as evening snacks.

MUSHROOM FRIED RICE

Basmati is a fragrant, long grained rice traditionally found in North India. It is gluten free and low in fat. It contains amino acids, folic acid and is low in sodium and has no cholesterol. Mushrooms are consumed for their nutritional and medicinal value. They are easily found in markets.
For recipe   http://ahaaafood.com/mushroom-fried-rice/