Spicy Rice Kichadi

One pot meal and a comfort food, perfect for those lazy days. Kichadi is prepared using rice or semolina or even cracked wheat mixed with lentils and a variety of spices and vegetables. You can also add roasted peanuts or cashew nuts for a little crunch. This recipe can easily be doubled when you have company over. With just a few ingredients from your pantry and easy to cook vegetables, this kichadi will be perfect for lunch boxes too. Hope you will enjoy the dish just like i did. And here goes the recipe, 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Rice

1/4 cup Toor dal

! 1/2 cups Water

1/4 cup Peas

1/4 cup Carrot (chopped)

1/2 Onion (finely chopped)

2-3 Green Chili (Finely chopped)

1 1/2 tsp Garlic (minced)

1 1/2 tsp Ginger (minced)

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Chili powder

1/4 tsp Cumin seeds

1/4 tsp Black peppercorns

1/2" Cinnamon stick

1 Clove

1 pinch Asafoetida

1 tbsp Oil

Salt

 How to:

• Wash the rice and toor dal together, pour the water and soak for 20 mins.

• In a pressure cooker, heat oil, add cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, clove, peppercorns, asafoetida and turmeric powder.

• Add the onions, saute for a min. Then add the ginger, garlic and green chilies and saute for a couple of mins.

• Add the carrots, peas along with chili powder and salt.

• Now add the soaked rice and dal along with the water, check salt and pressure cook for 1 whistle.

• Switch off, fluff the rice gently and garnish with cilantro.

• Serve warm with potato fry or chips.

Pesarettu (Green Moong Dal Dosa)

Highly rich in protein, this moong dal dosa would be the perfect breakfast any day. A couple of these dosas keeps you full and satisfied until noon. If you don't like onions, add some grated carrot or zucchini or beets and make it fun and colorful. Researchers say, foods rich in protein should make your breakfast plate. So, ditch your regular rice dosas/idlies and start your day including more dals and eggs. Here goes the recipe,

Ingredients:

1 cup Whole Green Moong dal

1/2 Yellow onion (finely chopped)

1 piece Ginger 

2 small Garlic

4 Green chilli (chopped)

1/2 cup Cilantro (chopped)

1 pinch Asafoetida

1/2tsp Cumin seeds

Water

Oil

Salt

How to:

• Soak the gram dal overnight or at least for 6hrs. Drain'em and keep it aside.

• Grind the dal along with ginger, garlic, green chilli, cilantro, asafoetida, cumin seeds and salt, in a blender/mixie to a smooth dosa like batter, adding some water.

• Now heat a griddle or dosa tawa, pour a ladleful of batter and swirl like you would for dosa, sprinkle some onions over the batter and pour drops of oil around the edges and on top.

• Cook for couple of mins or until golden brown, flip and cook the other side.

• Serve hot with any chutney or sambar.

Spinach Curry

Ingredients:

1 bunch Spinach

2tbsp Toor dal (mashed)

1/2 Yellow Onion (chopped)

2 small Green Chilli (slit)

4-5 Curry leaves

2 Garlic pods (thinly sliced)

1 1/2tsp Cumin powder

1/2tsp Cumin seeds

1/2tsp Mustard seeds

1/2tsp Urad dal

2 dry red chilli

1 pinch Asafoetida

Salt

Oil

How to:

• Wash, rinse and chop the leaves.

• Heat oil in a skillet, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chilli and asafoetida.

• Add onions along with salt and saute until tender.

• Then add curry leaves, garlic and green chilli and saute for 2 mins or until golden brown.

• Add the leaves and saute for a min. Then add cumin powder and cook for another min.

• Check salt for taste. Then switch off, add dal and mix well.

Serve hot with steamed rice or chapathi.

Eggplant roast

Ingredients:

1 Eggplant

3tbsp Chilli powder

3/4tsp Turmeric powder

1 1/2tsp Rice flour

1tsp Salt

Oil

How to:

• Slice the eggplant into 1/2 inch circular or semi-circular pieces.
• Mix the chilli powder, turmeric powder, rice flour and salt and prepare a dry masala.

• Now coat the dry masala on both the sides of eggplant and marinate for 5-10 mins.

• In a skillet, drizzle oil to coat the pan, when the oil is hot, place the marinated eggplant and roast it in a medium flame.

• Cook for 4 mins, then, flip it over and cook for another 4 mins, until the sides starts to blacken.

Remove from pan and serve hot with dal rice.

Sending this dish to Akheela's Torview for the event Food Palette Series ORANGE.

Tadka Dal(Paruppu)

Ingredients:

1 cup Toor dal

1 1/2tbsp Yellow onion (chopped)

1/2 Tomato (chopped)

2 green chilli (slit)

1/4tsp Turmeric powder

Salt

Tadka:

4 dry red chillies (broken)

1/2tsp mustard seeds

1/2tsp urad dal

1tsp cumin seeds

1 1/2tbsp Yellow onion (chopped)

2 garlic pods (minced)

1-2 green chilli (chopped)

5-6 Curry leaves

Pinch of Asafoetida

1 1/2tbsp ghee

How to:

• Pressure cook the toor dal along with onion, tomato, green chilli and turmeric powder.

• Once cooked, mash it up, adjust the salt and keep it aside.

• In a pan, heat ghee, add the tadka ingredients in the given order and fry'em.

• Now add it to the mashed dal and mix it well.

• Finally, garnish with cilantro.

Serve with steamed rice or chapathi.

Who doesn't love paruppu sadam (rice) with ghee?