From Karnataka with love!

Today I sojourned into the Southern part of Karnataka and came up with Bisi Bele Bhath for dinner.  I did not make anything else as it is a complete meal by itself. It has carbohydrates, vegetables and proteins :) Accompanied by Lays potato chips, it has comfort food written all over it!!

Bisi bele bhath with potato chips

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Bisi Bele Bhaath

2 cups rice

1 cup tuvar daal
2 cups - Beans, carrots and potatoes chopped

1/2 cup green peas
1 Onion sliced thinly and fried till golden brown

3 tbsp tamarind paste or 1 cup of tamarind juice
1 tbsp of jaggery
salt to taste

For the bisi bele masala
4-5 dry red chillies
2 tbsp chana daal
1 tbsp urad daal

1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 cloves
1 cardamom

1 inch piece of cinnamon

1/2 cup grated coconut (or you could use the dessicated coconut like I did)

Roast all the above except the coconut in a little oil till they turn fragrant and turn color. Grind it with the coconut and water to make a smooth paste and reserve.

For the final tempering
1 tsp ghee or butter
1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp urad daal
1 tsp chana daal

a pinch of asafoetida

a handful of curry leaves
2 dry red chillies broken to pieces

Pressure cook the rice, vegetables and daal in a pressure cooker in separate vessels. Add a little salt and jaggery to the vegetables before you pressure cook them.

Meanwhile add 2 cups of water to the tamarind paste and let it come to a boil. When the water has reduced by half, add the reserved ground paste and cover and cook for 5 minutes. Then add the vegetables and the daal and rice. Adjust the salt and add more water to keep the consistency from getting too thick and cover and cook for a minute taking care to keep mixing it so that the bottom does not get burnt. 

In a separate pan, heat the ghee and add the mustard seeds. After they have crackled add the remaining tempering ingredients and fry till they have changed color. Pour this into the rice mixture along with the fried onions.

Mix well and serve.

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Yummy in the tummy!
See you all tomorrow!

Jhatpat khana

The pain in the neck persists... So had to whip up something that wouldn't take too long. I have this Asian grill and stir fry seasoning that was begging to be used today so a quick stir fry rice dish it was for dinner today!

Quick Asian stir fry rice

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Quick Asian Stir Fry Rice

3 cups cooked rice 

2 cup of mixed veggies (carrots, sweet potatoes, beans all chopped lengthwise into 2 inch sticks)

1 cup of chopped paneer (you could use firm tofu if u have that)

1/2 cup of the Asian stir fry seasoning (for the ones who are curious about its ingredients; it contains the following - Salt, Dehydrated Garlic, Sugar, Sesame Seeds, Black Sesame Seeds, Dehydrated Red and Green Bell Peppers, Dehydrated Onion, Orange Peel, Soy Sauce, Spice)

4 dry red chillies chopped

4 cloves of garlic chopped

Heat oil and add the red chillies and garlic. Fry for about a minute. Then add the vegetables and saute till they are cooked and yet crunchy. Now add the seasoning and cook for a minute. Then add the rice and salt according to your taste. That's it!

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Wan an! that's good night in Chinese!

The day has been a pain in the neck!!

Literally! I have spondylitis and due to the pain cannot even turn my head around. Like a zombie I need to turn my whole body around if I need to turn to look at something!! It would be funny if weren't for the pain :-)
Anyway, made soy granules pulao and Paneer bharwan tamatar (recipe courtesy Good Housekeeping - April 2011)

Paneer bharwan tamatar and Soy pulao

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Paneer Bharwan Tamatar

For the stuffing

1/2 cup of grated paneer

1 small potato boiled and mashed

1 small onion finely diced

1 green chilli finely diced

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander pd

1 tsp garam masala pd

1/2 tsp turmeric pd

Salt and chilli pd to taste

Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. After they have spluttered add the onions and the chilli and fry till the onion turns pink. Now add the salt and other spice powders and saute for a min. Now add the potato and paneer and mix well. Cook for a minute and set aside.

For the gravy

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

2 big onions roughly chopped 

2 tomatoes roughly chopped (also add the scooped out insides of the prepared tomatoes)

Grind the above to a smooth paste. 

1 tsp garam masala pd

1 tsp kitchen king masala

Salt and chilli pd to taste

3 tbsp cream (optional. You could also add coconut milk, cashew paste or poppy seed paste instead)

Heat oil in a pan and add the paste and fry till the raw smell goes away. Add the spice powders and saute for some more time. Remove from flame and reserve.

For the tomatoes

5 tomatoes - They should be a good size and capable of standing straight on their own! Alternatively you could cut a slice off the bottom to make them stand upright (just need to be careful that you are not slicing it too deep so all the filling would leak out. 

Slice the top off the tomatoes and scoop out the insides. Use the insides in the gravy as mentioned above.

Assembling the dish

Fill the stuffing into the tomatoes pushing down till they are completely stuffed :) Place the tomatoes in a dish so that they are upright. Now pour the gravy gently taking care that the tomatoes do not topple and the gravy does not submerge them. Bake in the oven at 170 for about 20 mins till the tomatoes are a little cooked but do not turn mushy. Serve with rice or pulao.

Soy Pulao

Soy granules 1 cup pre-soaked in water. I used the small granules.

1 cup peas

1 tomato chopped

1 onion sliced

1 tsp garam masala pd

1 tsp coriander pd

salt and chilli pd to taste

Heal oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds to splutter. Add the garam masala and salt and saute for a sec. Now add the onions and fry till they turn brown. Add the tomatoes and soy granules and peas and saute for a few minutes. Add a little water to cook the peas. Then add the cooked rice and mix well.

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Okay then! see you all tomorrow. Hope the pain in the neck is no more!!