GARLIC RICE(Filipino style)

I was surfing the web for the flavored rice recipes and that is when I came through this recipe. Garlic is used in wide variety of flavored rice in India. But flavored rice only with garlic…….this made me think twice about its taste. But finally I decided to try. Actually this is a Filipino dish with whole lots of garlic and nothing else. I added a hand full of corn for a different twist. The taste is very awesome and the procedure……very simple. For those who don’t take garlic every day, this is the best way to take more of garlic. Give it a try.
INGREDIENTS

• Rice                             1 cup
• Oil                                2 Tsp
• Garlic cloves             4-5(chopped)
• Sweet corn                2-3 Tsp(optional)
• Salt                              to taste
• Crushed red chilies    1
• Coriander                  2 sprigs(chopped)

PROCEDURE
Cook the rice with 2 cups of water and let the rice cool completely. Any long grain or sticky rice will be fine.
Heat oil in a pan and add the garlic cloves and sweet corn. Fry for a minute. Both of them should not change color. So keep the flame low.
Now add the cooked and cooled rice. Fry for one more minute. Finally add the salt and crushed chilly flakes and chopped coriander. Mix well and serve hot.

TOMATO GRAVY(SIDE DISH FOR ANY FLAVORED RICE)

When you make a hot, flavorful  biryani you will want to make a couple of side dishes. For that reason any flavored rice recipe needs a side dish. Some times you will be running out of time before making the curries or you will want to accompany a light gravy with the heavy biryani. Tomato gravy recipe is the best alternative in such a situation. This is largely served as a side dish with the non veg rice dishes. You can serve it with any rice dish or as a dip for the Indian bread(roti, nan, pulka etc.). Give it a try. The dish contains only tomatoes and spices and nothing else. You will love the ease of making and the taste of it.
INGREDIENTS

• Tomatoes                       5
• Oil                                    2 Tsp
• Whole garam masala  2 Tsp
• Salt                                  to taste
• Sugar                               1 tsp
• Chilly powder                 to taste
• Coriander                        2-3 sprigs
• Garlic                               2-3 cloves

PROCEDURE
Cut the tomatoes into medium chunks.
Heat oil in a pan and add the whole garam masala( cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, shahi jeera, black pepper).
Add the chopped garlic too.
Fry for a minute and add the chopped tomatoes.
Add the salt, sugar. Cover and cook till the tomatoes are soft.
Now add a cup of water. Let the curry boil.
Add the chilly powder.  Now reduce the flame and cover and cook for 15 minutes.
Adjust the water according to your taste. The dish tastes awesome on the gravy side.
Finally add the chopped coriander and serve with any flavored rice.

CHIKKUDUKAYA FRY

Chikkudukayalu, as called in Telugu are the  Indian broad beans. These are rich in protein, folic acid and are high in soluble fiber. Including some kind of beans(green beans, broad beans, soy beans, French beans, kidney beans etc)  in your daily diet, provides your body healthy nutrients, vitamins and a small portion of minerals. Many different recipes can be prepared with these broad beans. Today I give the simple fry recipe with chana dal. 
INGREDIENTS

• Broad beans                1/4 kg
• Chana dal                    2 Tsp
• Onions                          1 small
• Tomato                        1 small
• Salt                               to taste
• Red chilies                   2
• Green chilies               2
• Curry leaves               a few
• Mustard seeds            1/2 tsp
• Urad dal                      1/2 tsp
• Oil                                 3 Tsp

PROCEDURE
Soak the chana dal  for an hour.
Chop the onion and tomato finely.
Roughly chop the chilies.
Cut the beans into 1 inch pieces and cook them. You can just cook in the pressure cooker or microwave till soft.
Heat oil in a pan and add the urad dal,mustard seeds, curry leaves.
Add the red chilies, onions, tomatoes.
Add a bit of salt, cover and cook till onions and tomatoes turn soft.
Now add the cooked beans and green chilies.
Add some more salt and fry for a couple of minutes.
Finally add the soaked chana dal. Cover and cook for a minute.
Mix well and when all the moisture is evaporated serve hot with rice.

ALOO BONDA/BATATA VADA

Aloo Bonda is a very popular snack in India. Also called, Btata vada in North India, this easy snack has its own place in many of the functions in South India. Due to its ease of making, this is the most preferred item in the South Indian marriages. When you are on a train journey, this is one of the popular snacks you can get through out the journey…..from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.  The stuffing is always the potato stuffing with slight variations from region to region. You can add your own spices to suite your taste buds. Here I give the simple recipe of the aloo bonda. Give it a try.
INGREDIENTS

• Besan                         1 cup
• Potatoes                    2 medium
• Onion                          1 medium
• Green chilies              1 finely chopped
• Ginger                        1 inch piece finely chopped
• Curry leaves             a few, finely chopped
• Coriander                  3-4 sprigs, chopped
• Salt                             to taste
• Red chilly powder    to taste
• Oil                              for deep frying
• Mustard seeds          1 tsp
• Baking soda              a pinch(optional)

          
PROCEDURE
Boil the potatoes, peel and mash them.
Heat a table spoon of oil and add the mustard seeds. When the mustard start to splutter add the onions, green chilies, ginger, curry leaves.
Fry till the onions become soft. Now add then mashed potato, chopped coriander, salt.
Mix well and the stuffing for the bonda is ready.
Let the stuffing cool for a while.
Mean while make the batter.
Add the besan, rice flour, little salt, baking soda and chilly powder in a bowl. Add enough water and make a batter slightly thinner than the bajji batter.
Heat oil for deep frying the bondas.
Divide the stuffing into equal parts and make small rounds.
Take each portion and dip them in the batter, coat the batter evenly, and drop them gently into the hot oil. The oil should be really hot or else the bondas will absorb more oil.
Fry them on a medium high flame to a golden color. Serve hot with any sauce or chutney.

BAJJI CHAAT

Bajjilu………a favorite snack for many of us. Although they are very tasty and tempting, many give up this snack because they are deep fried. For those who cannot resist the temptation, I give this recipe. I don’t say that the recipe is low in calorie, but with this recipe you can eat your favorite bajji in lesser quantity , with more enjoyment. Give it a try. You can have 3-4 bajjis in the form of chaat, instead of 7-8 bajjis you normally take.
INGREDIENTS

• Potato fritters                   10-12
• Sweet onions                    1 small
• Tomato                              1 small
• Capsicum                           1 small
• Lemon juice                       1 Tsp
• Coriander                           3-4 sprigs
• Chaat masala                    1/4 tsp
• Sweet chutney                  1 tsp(optional)
• Green chutney                   1 tsp(optional)
• Salt and chilly powder     to taste.

PROCEDURE
Chop the onion. tomato, coriander, capsicum very finely.
In a bowl add the chopped veggies, lemon juice, little salt and chilly powder. Mix well and leave for 5 minutes.
Cube the potato bajjis into medium size cubes.
Add these bajjis to the onion tomato mixture. Mix well, top it off with chaat masala, sweet and green chutneys.
Serve immediately. 

SET DOSA WITH ONION-TOMATO CHUTNEY

These  soft and very light dosas are served as a set of 3 or 4, so the name set dosa. For those who are bored up with the regular crispy dosas these can be an alternative. Although the initial process is very long(compared to normal dosas) the end product, dosas, makes you say wow………..These are fluffier and softer than regular dosas.  Don’t get confused with the sponge dosa, which also includes the poha. The rice, dal and poha combination in both of them vary.
SET DOSA
INGREDIENTS

• Urad dal                    3/4 cup
• Rice                            2 cups
• Poha                           1 cup packed
• Curds                          1 cup
• Salt                             to taste
• Methi seeds               1 tsp
• Cooking soda            1/4 tsp
• Oil                               2-3 Tsp

PROCEDURE
Soak the dal, rice, methi seeds for 5-6 hours. Grind them to a smooth and thick batter. Do not add too much of water. The batter should be thick as the idly batter.
Add cooking soda and let the batter ferment for 8-10 hours or preferably over night.
Now soak the poha in the curds(preferably sour curd) for 1 hour and grind it to a fine paste. Mix this with the fermented rice-dal batter.
Add salt, mix well and leave for 2 hours. Now the set dosa batter is ready to use.
The batter should be slightly thicker than the regular dosa batter.
Heat a tawa and smear a drop of oil (not too much). Pour a ladle full of batter on the tawa. Spread the batter a little bit into a perfect round and keep it thick. These dosas are smaller in size and thicker than regular dosas.
Pour a spoon full of oil along the edges of the dosa. At this point you can add grated carrot or any other finely chopped veggies(spring onions, cabbage, coriander, chilies, capsicum etc) to enhance the taste.
Cover and cook on a medium flame for 1 minute. By this time the dosa should have puffed up. You can flip and cook the dosa for another half minute. Generally these are cooked only on one side .
Serve 3 0r 4 dosas ,hot with any chutney.
Do not cook dosa for longer time. The dosa should remain soft and spongy.
 ONION-TOMATO CHUTNEY
INGREDIENTS

• Onions                   2 medium
• Tomatoes              2 medium
• Red chilies              4
• Tamarind               2 small pieces
• Salt                          to taste
• Oil                           2 Tsp
• Sugar                     1 tsp
• Urad dal                1 tsp
• Mustard                1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves         a few

PROCEDURE
Cut the onions and tomatoes into big chunks.
Heat a table spoon of oil in a pan and add the chopped onions and tomatoes. Add enough salt, red chilies, sugar, Tamarind. Mix well, cover and cook on a medium flame.
Cook until the onions and tomatoes become soft and the raw flavor disappears. All the moisture from the veggies should get evaporated and both of them should be dry.
Let the mixture cool.
Mean while heat some more oil and add the urad dal, mustard, curry leaves. When the tadka is done, remove and keep it aside.
Grind the cooled onion-tomato mixture. To this add the tadka and the chutney is ready to be served with the dosas.