Cauliflower Rice

Cauliflower Rice

Cauliflower Rice is one of the my favorite recipe. Though i made this cauliflower rice many times for lunch box , i never had time to click the pictures on weekday mornings. Finally i made it on a day when my hubby came home for lunch and kids were also on holiday.

INGREDIENTS:

CAUIFLOWER FLORETS	1/2 CUP
BASMATHI RICE	3/4 CUP
OIL	1 TBLSP
RED CHILLI POWDER	1/2 TSP
ONIONS	2 NO
TOMATO	1 NO
GARLIC	5 PODS
ELACHI	1 NO
CLOVES	2 NO
SALT	AS NEEDED

METHOD:

• Wash the rise and soak it  in 1 and half cup of water for half an hour.

• Pressure cook the rice by adding little salt and a drop of oil.
• When it is done allow it to cool in a broad vessel.
• Immerse the cauliflower florets in hot water for 5 seconds and take it out.

• Cut the onions into big pieces and sauté them till it turns pink.
• Allow it to cool and grind it to a smooth paste along with elachi,garlic,tomato and cloves.

• In a Kadai add oil and sauté the cauliflower by adding redchilli powder and salt to it.

• It took 15 mins for me to roast the cauliflower  without adding much oil.

• When the cauliflowers are done keep it separately.
• In the Kadai add the ground macula and fry till the raw smell goes off.
• Keep it in a low flame while frying.

• Now add the cooked cauliflower florets to this. Mix well.

• Mix it well with rice.

• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with any rather of your choice.

Javarisi Upma

  Preparation Time : 10 mins + 3 hours soaking | Cooking Time : 15 Mins|Serves: 2

   Javarisi | sago        1 cup
   Oil        3 tsp
   Peanuts     2 tsp 
   Mustard     1/4 tsp
   Turmeric powder    1/4 tsp
   Carrot     little (optional)
   Lemon juice    1 tsp
   Green chili    1-2
   Salt     as needed
   Curry leaves     few
     
     
     

Method:

• Wash the javarisi | sago nicely and soak it in little water , just to immerse it, for 1 hour. Later drain the water and keep it in a colander. Sprinkle little water and keep it overed for 2 hours. 
• You can skip this step but this will be perfect .
• Mix the turmeric powder with this soaked sago, so that while cooking it will be evenly mixed.

• In a pan add oil and mustard seeds, peanuts and  chopped green chilis.
• Add the finely chopped carrots(if adding). Even adding peanuts is optinal but i love to add in upmas.

• Add the soaked and drained sago to this and cook in a very low flame. 

• Add salt to this.
• Cook for 5 minutes in a low flame without getting it burnt. The sago will turn glossy. Be careful not to form it into a lumpy mass.
• Switch off the flame and add the lemon juice to this. Mix well. Add curry leaves.

• Serve this always hot, else it will become soggy.

Notes:

1. Do not soak the sago in more water , this will make the upma soggy.
2. Overnight soaking is also ok. ensure you add less water only. 
3. You can add finely chopped capsicum also if you want.
4. Peanuts can be replaced with cashewnuts too.

Instant poha idli

  Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 15 Mins |Yields: 10-12 idlis

      Poha | aval    2 cups (thick or thin)
      Yogurt      1/2 cup
      Oil      2 tsp
      Mustard seed    1/4 tsp
      Channa dal    1/2 tsp
      Cashew nuts     4-5 (optional)
      Turmeric powder    2 pinches
      Salt     as needed
      Eno fruit salt    1 tsp
      Curry leaves + coriander leaves    few
      Carrot    2 tblsp (finely chopped)
       Peas      1 tblsp

     
     

Method:

• You can use any variety of poha (thick or thin). Roast the poha in a pan for 2 minutes without getting it burnt.
• Coarsely powder them in a mixer. Just pulse them twice will do.

• In a pan add oil and add in the mustard seeds, cashew nuts , finely chopped green chili, channa dal, cashew nuts ,chopped curry leaves and coriander leaves. When they are turning golden brown add the chopped carrot and peas. Adding veggies is purely optional.
• Allow this to cool. Add the pulsed poha to this. When the seasoning is completely cool add the yogurt to this.
• By this time heat the idli pan and grease the idli plates.

• Add salt to this. Add water to get the right consistency. The poha will absorb more water but stop with 1 to 1 and half cup of water. After adding eno salt it will be ok .
• Add eno salt to this and mix this well. Immediately add this to the idli pan.

• Steam  the idli for 10 minutes . 

• Super soft poha idlis are ready to serve. You can serve with any side dish of your choice. 

Notes:

1. You can add onions too while seasoning.
2. Instead of eno fruit salt you can add 1/4 tsp of baking soda and 1 tsp of lemon juice.
3. You can grate the carrots too instead of chopping it

 Rava dosa recipe

  Preparation Time : 15 mins | Cooking Time : 5 Mins per dosa|Yields: 3

     Sooji | Rava    1/4 cup
     Rice flour     1/4 cup
     Maida | All purpose flour   1 tbslp
     Onion    1 
     Green chili   1
     Mustard seeds   1/8 tsp
     Jeera   1/8 tsp
     Whole pepper corns 4
    Curry leaves    few
    Salt   as needed
    Oil   1 tsp + oil to make for dosa     
     

     
   

Method:

• In a wide bowl add the rice flour, sooji and maida. No need to roast the rava.
• In a pan add 1 tsp of oil and throw in the mustard seeds, Add the finely chopped green chili, onions,whole pepper corns and curry leaves to this and cook till the onion turns pink. Do not let it brown.
• Switch off the flame and ad the cumin seeds. 

• Add water to this and add salt. Mix well without any lumps. This batter should be like a thin buttermilk. So mix it very well. Even after making the dosa everytime, mix the batter well.
• Keep it aside for 15 minutes.

• Heat the non stick tawa and sprinkle little oil on it and spread it well.
• Let the tawa becomes hot.
• Take a ladle full of batter and sprinkle it on the tawa. Some people even used to sprinkle it with hands too. But i think it comes by practice.Add oil | ghee to the this.
• Let it cook and starts browning nicely. Keep the flame in medium .
• Generally rava dosa takes little more time to cook than normal dosa.
• Flip the dosa and cook for few seconds .
• Rava dosa is ready.

• Crispy rava dosa is ready to serve. Serve hot with coconut chutney and tiffin sambar.
• Always serve this hot.

Notes:

1. Always ensure the batter should be thin.
2. Keep mixing the batter well every time before making the dosa.
3. Always ensure the pan is hot before making he dosa.
4. You can skip onions and just add the seasoning to the dosa.
5. Some people add little buttermilk to the batter too. You can add if you wish.

Mysore masala dosai

  Preparation Time : 20 mins | Cooking Time : 20 Mins |Serves: 3-4

     Dosa Batter*      1 cup
     Sugar    1/2 tsp
     Oil | butter  to make the dosa
    For the potato masala
   Potato   2
   Onion  1
   Tomato  a small portion
    Red chili powder   1/2 tsp
    Salt   as needed
    Turmeric powder   1/4 tsp
    Oil   2 tsp
    Mustard seeds  1/4 tsp
    Curry leaves   few
    Cashew nuts few  (optional)
  For the red chutney    
   Red chili  4
   Garlic   2 pods
   Channa dal or Chutney dal (pottukadalai)   2 tblsp
    Dry coconut (kopparai)   1 tblsp  (optional)
   Salt   to taste
   Oil   1 tsp
 *Add 1/4 cup of aval |poha |rice flakes to the urad dal while soaking.    
     

Method:

• First let's make the red chutney for the mysore masala dosa. Add the 1 tsp of oil and  roast the ingredients mentioned under the table 'Red chuney'. 
• Fry till golden brown. 

• Grind this into a thick paste by adding little water to this. 

• The red chutney is ready. Let's make the potato masala for the dosa.
• Boil the potatoes and take out the skin. Chop the onions and tomato finely.
• In a pan add oil and add in the mustard seeds , curry leaves and cashew nuts(if adding)/
• Once the mustard seeds crackles and the cashew turn brown , add the chopped onions and tomato. Cook till the tomatoes become mushy.

• Add the red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt. 
• Mash the potatoes roughly with hands and add it to the pan.

• Mix this well and mash this using a potato masher or with the back of the ladle. 

• potato masala is ready for the dosa. Take the batter and add the sugar to it and mix well. Sugar gives nice golden colour to the dosa. Mix well.
• Heat a dosa pan.
• Pour 1 and 1/2 ladle of batter to the  dosa pan and spread it in a circular motion. 

• Generally mysore masala dosa will be slightly thick, so no need to spread it too thin. 
• Add 1-2 tblsp of red chutney on the dosa and spread it nicely all over the dosa with the back of a spoon. 

• Add the potato masala in the center. You can either serve it like that or you can spread it on the dosa. I like mine spread on the dosa as served in the restaurants. Add butter or oil to the dosa.
• Generally butter will be added to mysore masala dosa.

• In case if you are not spreading the potato masala, allow this to cook for few more minutes till the down part becomes golden brown.  
• Fold this and serve immediately.

• Serve hot with a dollap of butter on the top. 
• Coconut chutney is the best combo for this dosa. 

Notes:

1. Adding sugar to the batter, will give nice golden colour.
2. You can add 1 tblsp of rava (sooji) to the batter before making the dosa. This gives crispiness to the dosa.
3. Adding poha to the batter gives softness to the dosa, more of not making it dry when it is crispy.
4. For red chuntey, if you feel the colour is not so red, add 1/4 tsp of kashmiri red chili powder while grinding. 
5. Instead of channa dal you can add chutney dal(pottukadalai) to the chutney. In that case no need to roast the dal, only red chili and garlic can be roasted.
6. You can skip tomatoes in the masala and add carrot too. 
7. Adding butter gives nice brown colour to the dosa, else you can add ghee too.
8. One person can maximum eat 1-2 dosas . I couldn't eat one full  dosa, but still finished.

Bhatura

BHATURA

Method:

• In a wide bowl add the plain flour, sooji, baking soda, sugar ( i used raw sugar) yogurt and salt.
• Mix well and add water little by little to make this into a dough. It should not be too soft or too stiff. 

• Add 3 tsp of oil to this and knead this well again. 
• Cover this with a damp cloth and keep it aside for an hour. Even if you have time you can keep it 2-3 hours. 
• Make equal big lemon sized balls out of this and keep this aside for 10 minutes.

• Meanwhile keep the oil ready.
• Take a dough ball and dust it with plain flour.
• Roll this into a oblong shape. You can make this round too.

• Ensure the rolled bhaturas are thick. If it is thin it won't puff up well.  
• Check whether the oil is hot or not by putting a pinch of dough into the oil. 
• If it immediately pops up then  oil is ready.  
• Put the rolled bhaturas into the oil and fry on both sides.

• Take out and drain excess oil in a kitchen towel. 
• Bhaturas are ready to serve.
• These bhaturas retained the puffiness for more than 15 minutes. 

Notes:

1. Some people knead the dough with soda water to get nice puffed bhaturas. In that case do not add baking powder.
2. Always roll the bhatura thicker, if it is thin it will become flat and won't puff up.
3. Ensure the oil is super hot. Else bhaturas  will absorb oil and won't puff up

coriander pulao

Method:

• Wash the basmati rice and soak it in 1 cup water for 10 minutes. 
• Grind the coriander leaves, green chili and coconut into a fine paste using the 3/4 the cup of soaked water.

• Squeeze out the extract and strain it and keep aside.

• Add remaining soaked water and grind the mixture once again. Squeeze out the extract and discard the residue. 
• We need only the coriander coconut milk. 

• In a pressure cooker, add oil + ghee. Add the green chili(slit), cinnamon and cardamom. You can add 1 bay leaf too. 
• Add ginger garlic paste to this. 
• Saute for a minute in low flame.
• chop the onions into thin slices. Add it to the cooker. 

• Saute for a minute. Add salt to this. 
• Add green peas to this . If you want you can add cubed potatoes too. Paneer cubes can also be added. 

• Add the soaked rice to this and saute for a minute.
• Add the Coriander coconut extract to this and cover the cooker.
• Pressure cook for a whistle and keep in a very low flame for 5 minutes. 

• Open the cooker and gently mix the rice. 

Notes:

1. Instead of grinding coconut and coriander and extracting the juice, you can grind little coriander and 1 green chili and add 1 cup of thin coconut milk to the pulao.
2. As we are discarding the ground paste and using the juice only, you can add 3 chilies for 1 cup rice. It was medium spicy only. 
3. You can add some roasted cashew nuts in the last just before serving. 
4. You can add potato, paneer or carrots to the pulao along with peas.
5. Few mint leaves can be added while grinding to enhance the flavour.