Tomato Rice

Ingredients:

Tomatoes - 4 medium

Basmati Rice - 1 Cup

Onion – 1 large

Green Chiliies – 3 to 4

Ginger& Garlic Paste – 1Tbsp

Salt - To Taste

Cumin seeds – 1Tsp

Fennel seeds – 1 tsp

Cloves- 2

Cardamom – 2

Bay leaves - 1

Chilli Powder- 1 tsp

Coriander Powder - 2 tsp

Jeera Powder - 1 tsp

Tumeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 3 tbsp

Mint leaves – ½ cup

Fresh Coriander leaves- For Garnishing 

Preparation: 
Wash and soak the rice and keep it aside for about 30 minutes.Cut the tomatoes into small cubes, onions into thin slices and chillies lengthwise.
Heat the Oil in the Pan & add bay leaf, cloves, cardamom, cumin and Fennel seeds and fry till the aroma comes out.
When it starts spluttering add green chillies & Onions , fry till onions turn translucent.
Add ginger-garlic paste, mint leaves and fry till the raw flavor of ginger is gone. Add mint leaves ,tomatoes , salt,tumeric & keep stirring.
When Everything is mixed together add all the dry
masala powders and cook on a medium heat till the tomatoes are mushy.Keep stirring frequently.
When the tomatoes are cooked add the soaked Rice and fry for a minute. Add about 1 ½ cups of water to the rice and stir well. Adjust salt if needed. Once it starts to boil, lower the heat and cook the rice closed till done.
Garnish with Fresh Coriander leaves & serve hot with raitha.

Chilagada Dumpa-Mirapakaya Pulusu (Sweet potato sour stew with Jalopeno Peppers)

Here is one more dish, which I am trying it for the first time. As I am not really a fan of sweet potato, I don’t cook it often. I had leftover sweet potato, which we got for our friend’s daughter, Rishika’s baby food. In order not to waste it, I wanted to prepare something with the root. I was browsing for some of its recipes and also its nutritional values and found some really interesting stuff in the internet. Besides simple starches, sweet potatoes are rich in complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, beta carotene (a vitamin A equivalent nutrient), vitamin C, and vitamin B_6.  I used some Jalopeno peppers along with the sweet potato in the dish to make it little more spicier. After tasting it, I was totally surprised by its taste. Just loved it !!!

Ingredients:

Sweet potato – 1/2 large

Jalopenos – 6-7

Onion – 1 large

Tomato – 1 large

Green chillies – 3 to 4

Tamarind pulp – 3 tbsp

Chilli powder – 2 Tsp

Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – 2 strands

Turmeric – ½ tsp

Oil – 2 Tsp

Salt to taste

Preparation:

Wash and peel the sweet potato and cut it into 1 inch cubes and keep aside. Cut the jalopeno peppers into bite size pieces. Soak the tamarind and squeeze out the pulp. Now heat oil in a saucepan and once it is hot, add the cumin & mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds start to splutter, now add the fenugreek seeds and curry leaves and fry for few seconds and now add the onions  and green chillies, cut lengthwise and let them fry till the onions are transparent. Add the sweet potato cubes and sauté for 5 minutes on a medium heat. Now add the tomato puree (I have blanched the tomatoes in water for 5 min, peeled them and pureed them so as to have a thick sauce or else the regular canned tomato puree can be used). Add the turmeric, chilli powder, Jalopeno peppers, salt and the tamarind pulp and little water and close the lid and let it cook on  a low flame till the oil oozes out of the sauce. To have an extra flavour, add some fresh curry leaves and close the lid and cook for 5 more min. so that the all the flavours are absorbed by the sweet potatoes. Add some sesame powder at this point to the pulusu to give it a very nice added flavour and thick consistency for the sauce. Serve hot with rice and some chips or rice fritters.

Oats upma

A steaming bowl of fresh cooked oatmeal is the perfect way to start off a day. Oats, oat bran, and oatmeal contain a specific type of fiber known as beta-glucan, which helps in reducing the cholesterol levels significantly. Studies also show that beta-glucan has beneficial effects in diabetes as well. They contain more soluble fiber than any other grain, resulting in slower digestion and an extended sensation of fullness. Well…if I go on like this to say the health benefits of oats, it’s gonna take long time. So, let me share this amazing upma recipe, which I made with oats and fresh vegetables. Give this a try when you are in the mood for some quick and healthy dish and all you need is some chutney of your choice to enjoy the moment.

Ingredients:

Oats – 1cup

Water – 1 ¼ cups

Onion – ½ medium finely chopped

Mixed vegetables - 1/4 cup (peas, carrot, beans, capsicum)

Mustard - 1/2 tsp

Urad dal - 1/2 tsp

Chana dal - 1/2 tsp

Cashew nuts – 2tbsp

green chillies – 2-3

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Oil – 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Preparation:

Dry roast the oats for 2-3 minutes till crisp and keep it aside.

In a frying pan,  add2 tsp oil.

Add mustard, urad dal, channa dal, cashew nuts and green chillies and fry till the dals turn brown.

Add chopped onion, curry leaves and vegetables and fry till the onion becomes soft.

Add one and quarter cup of water and enough salt.

When the water starts boiling, add the oats and stir well.

Lower the heat and cover the pan with a lid allowing it to cook completely and all the water is absorbed.

Serve hot with any chutney of your choice.