SWEET POTATO GREEN PEAS PULAV

This is one of my successful recipe to make my 4 year old daughter to have sweet potato. As everyone knows, sweet potato is a very old vegetable in use all over the world with lots and lots of health benefits like rich in vitamin A, anti-oxidant,  antibactierial, antifungal, fiber rich, helps to regulate blood sugar levels etc.... Being from South India, I was served sweet potato just by steaming or boiling. I did the same for my daughter until she was 3 years. After 3 years I couldnt make my daughter to have sweet potato in the same way. At the same time I don't want her to take it in fried. So I thought the following pulav recipe will work good, it works.  Hope you too will have a good experience with the following recipe. The reciepe of pulav is a regular one and its easy to do too in one pot. 

Ingredients:

1. Sweet potato - 200 gms ( chopped into medium size chunks)
2. Fresh green peas - 1/2 cup
3. Onion - 1, medium size (thinly sliced)
4. Basmati / long grain rice - 3/4 cup
5. Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
6. Salt - 1 1/2 tsp or to taste
7. Oil or Butter or Ghee - 1 tbs for cooking


Seasoning:


1. Cloves - 1
2. Cinamon stick - 1 inch
3. Bay leaf - 1
4. Green chilli - 1, chopped or to taste


Method:


1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add cloves, cinamon stick, bay leaf, green chillies for seasoning. 


2. Once they got fried, add sliced onions and fry to golden brown. 


3. Add ginger garlic paste and keep frying for another 30 seconds.


4. Add chopped sweet potatos and fresh peas and fry for another 2 minutes.


5. Add 1 1/2 cups - 2 cups ( depends on the rice) of water.  


6. Clean and wash the rice. Drain out all the water from the rice before adding. When the water starts to boil add the washed rice. Close the pressure cooker and put the weight. Allow to cook until it gives 2 whistles or 12 mintues. Switch off. Remove the lid, when the pressure is completely gone.


7. Transfer the cooked aromatic pulav to a serving bowl and serve hot with your favorite side dish.


note:

1.  Its always better to soak the washed rice for a minimun of 10 minutes.Dont make sweet potatos to smaller chunks as it has the tendency of getting smashed easily. 
2.  If you are interested to know more nutritional value about sweet potatos, check out the following link. Its always good to hold the traditional foods in our daily life. 


http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=64


 

SPINACH AND MUSHROOM PULAV

Even I have named this recipe to be pulav, this is a contempary recipe. When I have been to America in 2002 for the first time, I have been served pizza with spinach and mushroom toppings in a big restaurant. I was quite surprised with the taste and the toppings. Later I found this combination in many recipes including breads. So I tried this combination with our food, it came out well. 

 Its no doubt it is a healthy food, fancy food for your kids and family members. Its milder in flavour, colour and good in taste.

Ingredients :

1. Spinach / palak - 150 gms

2. Buttom mushrooms - 10 bigger size (chopped into quarters)

3. Basmati rice - 1 cup

4. Onion - 1 finely sliced

5. Salt - as required

6. Freshly grounded pepper - 2 tsp or as required

7. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

8. Cloves - 2

9. Cinamom stic - a very small piece

10. Bay leaf - 1

11. Water - 1 3/4 cup

12. Butter - 1/2 tbs

Method:

1. Clean and wash the rice and transfer to a small pressure cooker, add 1 3/4 cup of water, 1 tsp of salt, cloves, cinamon stic and bay leaf and close it with the lid. Put weight and cook until it gives 1 whistle. Once the pressure is completely gone from the pressure cooker, transfer the rice to a bigger bowl to get cool.

2. Clean the spinach leaves in the running water until it is cleaned completely. Chop it into medium size and keep it seperately.

3. Clean the mushrooms,  chop it into quarters and keep it seperately.

4. Heat 2 tbs of oil in a pan, add the chopped mushrooms and fry for 3-4 minutes in a high flame. Transfer to a seperate bowl.

5. Heat 1 tbs of oil in another pan, add thinly sliced onions fry until it turns golden brown.  Add ginger garlic paste, fry for 1 more minute. Add chopped spinach and fry until the water gets evoprates and the spinach gets cooked well. 

6.  Add salt, pepper powder and the fried mushrooms and fry for 1-2 minutes. Mix the cooked rice to the pan and give a gentle stir without breaking the rice. At this stage add the butter and mix it together.

9. Serve hot with spicy egg gravy or  with fried potatoes.

Note: You can cook the full recipe with butter instead of using oil. On dietery conscious I have reduced the quantity of butter. Butter will remove the greenish smell from the spinach and enhance the flavor of the dish.



MY SIMPLE VEGETABLE BRIYANI

This you either call it as biriyani or as pulav, but this is my version of cooking biriyani and it has very good taste and texture.  Here I am not using tomato, coconut milk or curd or full ghee or butter, still it tastes good. You too can try this out.

Ingredients:

1. Basmati rice - 1 1/4 cup
2. Onion - 1 big size, thinly sliced
3. Carrot - 1 big size, chopped into medium size
4. Beans - 10, chopped into medium size
5. Potato - 1 big size, chopped into medium size
6. Green peas - 1/4 cup (soaked over night or frozen)
7. Soya chunks - 10 pieces, soaked in water for 1/2 hr and chopped into medium size
8. Mint leaves - 1 handful, finely chopped
9. Coriander leaves - 1 handful, finely chopped
10. Ghee - 1/2 tbs or as required
11. Oil - 2 tbs or as required
12. Salt - as required
13. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp or as required
14. Turmeric powder - just a pinch
15. Garam masala powder - 2 pinch

To grind:

1. Green chillies - 2
2. Ginger - 2 inch
3. Garlic - 4 cloves

Seasoning :

1. Cloves - 4 or 5
2. Cinamon stic - 2
3. Bay leaves - 2
4. Green cardomom - 2
5. Freshly fried bread pieces - 1/2 cup

Method:

1. Clean and wash the rice and drain all the water and keep it seperately in a bowl.

2. Grind ginger, garlic and green chillies and keep it seperately without adding water.

3. Heat oil and ghee in a pressure cooker (here i am using 3 lts pressure cooker) , once they got heated add cloves, cinamon sticks, bay leaves and cardomom. 

4. Once they got fried add chopped onions and fry for 2 minutes, add the grind paste and fry for 1 more minute. Add the chopped mint leaves and coriander leaves and fry for 2-3 minutes.  Make sure, the leaves are cleanly washed and drained out of water completely. otherwise the texture of the rice will get changed. If there is excess water, pat the leaves in a kitchen towel or tissue before adding to the cooking.

5. add chopped vegetables, green peas and chopped soya chunks.  Fry for 2 more minutes. Add salt, turmeric powder, garam masala powder and red chilli powder and stir without taking your hands to avoid sticking to the vessel.

6. Add 2 cups of water to the vessel and allow to boil. Once the water started to boil nicely, add the washed rice to the vessel and close the lid of the pressure cooker with weight. Allow 1 whistle and switch off the stove. Wait until the pressure is gone completely. Open the lid, transfer to a big size bowl, mix the rice carefully with a spatula.

7.Cut the bread pieces into smaller cubes and deep fry it in the oil. Transfer to a tisse paper to remove excess oil and mix it with the rice, before serving. 

8. Serve this hot biriyani with onion raita or any kind of raita you like.  It is a excellent dish both to have in parties and also on weekends with your family.

Note :
1. You can avoid soya chunks to add while cooking. The other option of adding the soya chunks is you can drain and squeeze all the water from the soya chunks and deep fry in the oil, and add it finally with fried bread pieces before you serve.

PUDHINA RICE / PULAV ( MINT PULAV)

This recipe is a very simple, healthy, tasty and one pot cooking recipe. Its not only easy, its tastes excellent. Its a rich food but that easy to pack to your lunch box in the rushing up morning at the same time you can add this recipe in your party menu.

Ingredients :

1. Basmati rice - 1 1/4 cup
2. Onion - 1 finely chopped
3. Salt - as required
4. Oil - for cooking
5. Water - 2 cups

To grind :

1. Green chillies - 2
2. Ginger - 1 inch
3. Garlic - 2 or 3 cloves

Seasoning:

1. Cloves - 3
2. Cinamon stic - 1 inch
3. Bay leaf - 1
4. Lemon juice - 1 spoon

Method:

1. Heat oil in the pressure cooker, add bay leaf, cloves and cinamon. Once they got fried, add sliced onions and fry for 1 or 2 minutes.

2. In the mean while, grind raw mint leaves, ginger and garlic to a fine paste with adding a spoon of water and not more than that. Keep it ready before you start to prepare the dish.

3. Once the onions  got fried, add ground paste and fry until the water evoprates from the paste and the colour changes to dark.

4. Add water to the vessel. Once the water started to boil, add the washed rice and pressure cook it. Give 1 whistle. Open the lid once the pressure is completely gone.

5. Transfer the rice to a bigger serving bowl. Mix the rice carefully with a spatula.

6. Serve this hot colourful rice with raita.

7. Add a spoon of lemon juice before serving.

Note :

1. You can add 1/2 handful of chopped coriander leaves while grinding to it.

2. You can substitute, raw rice instead of basmati rice.

3. You can add fried cashews and fried paneer pieces to the rice before serving, which will enrich your food and presentation.

SPICY AND HOT EGG BIRIYANI

This is a spicy egg biriyani which tempts your tounge to eat again and again!!!! You can freely use the same recipe with frozen or overnight soaked green peas  by aviod using eggs from this recipe. And also you can enrich your dish by adding fried cahesws and sliced almonds on top of the rice.

Ingredients:

1. Boiled eggs - 2
2. Raw Egg  -  1 ( for making egg scramble)
2. Onions - 1 (big size) chopped length wise
3. Turmeric powder - 2 tsp
4. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
5. Biriyani masala - 2 tsp ( for extra spicyness)
6. Basmati rice - 1 cup
7. Cooking Oil -  for cooking
8. coriander leaves - 2 tbs (chopped finey)
9. Salt -  for cooking as required

To grind:

1. onion - 1 chopped
2. Tomato - 1 chopped
3. jeera - 1 tsp
4. Coriander seeds - 2tsp
5. Cloves - 3
6. Cinamon stick - 2 inch
7. Green chillies - 2
8. Black Pepper corns - 4
9. Ginger - 2 inch or 1 tbs of ginger paste
10. Garlic cloves - 3

Seasoning:

1. Bay leaf - 1

Method:

1. Heat a sauce pan, add oil. Add all the ingredients to be grind. Fry nicely until the onion and tomato gets cooked well.

2. Transfer all the fried ingredients to a bowl and allow to cool. Grind to a fine paste and keep ready. Wash the rice and keep it a bowl seperately. Heat a pan, add one raw egg and make egg scramble and keep it seperate.

3. Heat a pressure cooker or a pressure pan, Add oil to the vessel, add bay leaf.  Then add chopped onions, fry until it become transculant.

4. Add the grind masala to the pan, add little bit oil at this stage and fry nicely.

5. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt, biriyani masala powder one by one and fry until the oil gets seperate from the masala.

6. Add 1 3/4 cups - 2 cups of  water to the vessel according to your cooker and rice.

7. Close the lid and give 1 whistle to the cooker . switch off the stove. Wait until the pressure is gone to open the cooker. Add the scrambled egg to the the rice and mix together. Cut the boiled eggs into 4 pieces and mix together with the rice 1 hour before serving or you can add the full egg without cutting, as per you taste and wish.

8. Transfer to the serving bowl and sprinkle chopped cordiander on top.

10. Onion, Cucumber and green grapes mixed raita will be best for this biriyani. As the green grapes gives little tangy and sweetness to your tounge and cucumber will reduce the spicyness.

Simple pepper mushroom pulao

This is a simple and tasty puloa which you can add in your party buffet menu... and holds everyones heart. and also easy and healthy to go inside your lunch box in the morning time.

Ingredients:

1.Button  Mushrooms - 200 gms (cut into quarters)
2. Onions - 1 big size. chopped length wise
3. Butter and Oil -  2 tbs
4. Rice - 1 cup (basmati preferably)
5. Spring onions - chopped for decorating

To grind:

1. dried black pepper corns - 6
2. green chillies - 1 or 2 according to your taste
3. ginger - 1 inch
4. garlic - 3 cloves

Seasoning :

1. cloves - 3
2. cinamon stick - 1 inch

Method:

1. Add butter and oil in the pressure pan or cooker. Once the oil gets heated add cloves and cinamon.
2. Add chopped onions and fry until it gets soft. Add the ground paste and fry nicely. Add chopped mushrooms, fry until its size gets reduced half from its original size.  don't allow mushrooms to get shrink so small on cooking too much.
3. Add 1 1/2 cup of water to the vessel, once the water started to boil add salt and the washed, soaked rice to the vessel and pressure cook for 10 minutes or allow 1 whistle to the cooker( varies upon each pressure cooker).
4. The puloa is ready once the pressure on the cooker is released. Decorate it with spring onions on top of the puloa.
5. No need to have any side dish for this puloa, if you want you can accompainment this puloa with tomato sauce, chilli sauce for extra spicy and  also with any manchurian style gravy.

note : wash the rice nicely, and drain the excess water and allow the rice in the same bowl with wet as a first stage and start you chopping, grinding and cooking process. even if you haven't soaked the rice, doesnt matter add 1 3/4 cup of water for cooking.