Soya Chunks and Green Peas Biriyani

Spring has started and the flowers bloomed,the plants are looking fresh with the new tender leaves in my home garden.The weather is also pleasant to enjoy the gardening work.The mint plants in my garden are also with new leaves,makes me tempted to cook some recipe.As my family loves the flavor of mint I made mint chutney yesterday and I used the remaining leaves for this biriyani.I used the pressure cooker to make this biriyani it can be made with the electric rice cooker also.

Today's recipe is a healthy one pot meal which is a protein packed and is a good option for lunch box and parties.As the soya chunks resembles,chicken my kiddo loves to eat anything with that.The quality of basmathi rice what I got this time is not good,so the biriyani turned out little mushy and the grains are broken.Other than that everything was perfect and we enjoyed the meal along with seasoned curd rice and mangoes.Here goes the recipe .....

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Soya chunks/meal maker	1cup
Basmathi rice	11/2cups
Green peas(soaked/frozen)	1/2cup
Onion	2no.(medium size)
Tomato	2nos.(medium size)
Ginger&garlic paste	2tsp
Red chilly powder	1/2tsp
Coriander powder	3/4tsp
Garam masala powder	1/4tsp
Turmeric powder	1/8tsp
Coconut milk	3/4cup
Lemon juice	1tsp
Coriander leaves(chopped)	as needed
Salt	to taste
Oil	2tbs

To grind

Ingredient	Quantity
Coconut(grated)	2tsp
Green chilly	4nos.
Mint leaves	1/4cup
Coriander leaves	1/4cup

For tempering

Ingredient	Quantity
Fennel seeds(sombhu)	1/2tsp
Cloves	4nos.
Cinnamon	1 inch piece 2nos.
Cardamom	2nos.
Bay leaf	1no.
Green chilly	4nos.
Ginger&garlic paste	2tsp

Method

                                  Soak the basmathi rice in the water for 1/2 an hour,grind the coconut,mint leaves,coriander laeves and green chillies to fine paste.

 Cook the soya chunks in the boiling water with a pinch of salt and garam masala powder.Once its cool down rinse in the cold water for couple of times and squeeze the excess water,keep aside. 

Heat the pressure pan or cooker with the oil and temper it with the whole spices given for tempering.Add the onions,cook till golden brown colorThen add the ginger&garlic paste and fry it for a while.

 Now add ground paste and fry it till the raw smell goes away then tomatoes,cook it mushy.

 Add in all the powders,salt and fry it for 30 seconds then add the coconut milk and 2cups of water.

Now add the green peas and soya chunks to it,let it boil.

 Once the water boils add the drained rice to and mix it carefully,add the coriander leaves,cover it with the lid.Keep it in the medium flame for one whistle and let it be in the low flame for 5 minutes,turn off the stove.Once the pressure subsides remove the lid,add the lemon juice and mix it gently.

 Serve it with raitha or any curry of your choice.

Serve it with raitha or any curry of your choice.

• Adding coconut milk is optional but gives a nice flavor and taste to the biriyani.
• Rinse the boiled soya chunks atleast 2-3 times to get rid of the smell.
• Mixed veggies such as carrot,beans and potato can also be used.
• A tbs of ghee and broken cashews can also be added for extra taste and flavor.

Linking this to Show me the hits  series#3 Soy Recipes started by Sangeetha and hosting by Prabha of Prabha's Cooking.
Also linking to Serve It Series- Pressure Cooked/Slow Cooked  event happening at Priya and hosting by Jaya.
Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Microwave Easy Cooking-Event Announcement

Hello friends,I am happy to announce that I am guest hosting Srivalli's Microwave Easy Cooking(MEC) event.Thank you so much Srivalli for giving me this opportunity.
Microwave oven is not only for reheating the food,a variety of delicious food can be cooked.A lot of one pot meal,exotic sweets,scrumptious fries,subzi and a lot more can be cooked in less time.So here comes a challenge to cook in the microwave and request you all to send in your innovative and interesting recipes to make the event success.

Here are the guidelines for the event

* The entire cooking needs to be done in Microwave oven. The use of food processor or other gadgets for grinding is allowed,but no stove top.

 *Please mention clearly the timings used for cooking process and the recipe with final cooking in microwave is not allowed.

* Multiple entries are permitted.

* Recipes submitted to other events are also permitted.

* Recipes from archives can be accepted ONLY if updated as current post.

* Both veg and non-veg recipes are allowed.

* Recipes from non bloggers can be accepted.Please send your recipe to sureshnalini4@gmail.com

*The last date for the submission is April 30th 2012

*Link to Srivalli's MEC event announcement page and this announcement page is mandatory.
*Link your recipes to the following linky tool.

Looking forward for all your wonderful recipes.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Mixed Vegetable and Cranberry Beans Curry/Masala

Hello friends,hope everyone is doing good and happy to see you all after a short break.In my family one after the other was sick in the last two months and some of the personal work which kept me away from blogging.Now things are getting better and back to the routine.

Today's recipe is a delicious curry which can be made with the mixed vegetables and fresh beans.This curry goes very well with roti and rice,for this recipe I used fresh cranberry beans.

Cranberry beans are white beans with red marks which highly rich in protein and fiber.These beans are also called as borlotti beans.

Here is the recipe for the delicious and tasty curry.......

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Cranberry beans(cooked)	1cup
Cauliflower florets	2cups
Green beans	15-20nos.
Potato	2nos.(medium size)
Onion	2nos.(small size)
Tomato(chopped)	2nos.(medium size)
Chilly powder	11/2tsp
Coriander powder	2tsp
Turmeric powder	1/4tsp
Curry leaves(chopped)	2 sprigs
Coriander leaves(chopped)	1tbs
Salt	to taste
Oil	2tbs

To grind

Ingredient	Quantity
Coconut(grated)	4tbs
Ginger	1/2 inch piece
Garlic	3 cloves
Fennel seeds(sombhu)	1tsp
Cinnamon(pattai)	1/2 inch piece
Clove(lavangam)	2nos.
Cashews(broken)	1tsp

Method

               Cook the cranberry beans in the pressure cooker for a whistle with a pinch of salt.Put the cauliflower florets in the hot water with salt and turmeric powder and cut the french beans into one inch pieces.Boil or bake the potatoes and cut it into cubes.Grind the ingredients given to a fine paste and keep aside.

• Heat oil in a pan,saute the onion till transparent with a pinch of salt and add the tomatoes,cook it until mushy.

• Add the chopped green beans and saute it for a minute.Now add the chilly powder,coriander powder,turmeric powder and salt to it.

• Mix it well and add the ground paste and fry it well.Add 1/2 cup of water to it and cook it covered until the beans is tender.

• Once the beans is done add the cauliflower and cranberry beans,mix it well.Finally add the potatoes and mix it gently.

• Keep it in the medium flame for 4- 5 minutes or till the masala gets blended well.Garnish it with coriander leaves.

• Serve it with roti or rice.

Enjoy................................ 

• Instead of cranberry beans fresh green peas can be used.
• Other veggies such as carrot,broccoli also be used.
• If the masala gets stick to the pan add a tbs of oil to it.
• Saute the ground paste till the raw smell goes off. 
• The red color marks on the cranberry beans will disappear after cooking.
• If you don't want to use coconut use one more onion and tomato while sauting but adding the coconut paste gives nice flavor and taste to the curry.
• Use half a tsp of garam masala powder and 2 tsp of  ginger&garlic paste if you are not using coconut.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Thenkuzhal/Murukku

This post has been lying in my draft since Diwali and finally posted it today.Murukku is a traditional snack which prepared for festival especially Diwali.There are lot of variants in the murukku recipe and this is my mom's recipe,uses home made rice flour. I used the store bought rice flour and here is the recipe for crunchy and yummy murukku....



Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Rice flour	4cups
Urad dhal	1cup
Roasted gram dhal(pottukadalai)	1/4cup
Cumin seeds	1tbs
Butter	5tbs
Asafoetida	1/4tsp
Salt	to taste
Oil	for frying

Method


                 Dry roast the urad dhal to a nice golden brown color and powder it in the blender and sieve it(used store bought urad flour and roasted it),powder the pottukadali and sieve it.

Take a large mixing bowl and mix rice flour,urad flour,roasted gram dhal flour,cumin seeds,salt and butter.Make a smooth  and stiff dough with water.
Heat the pan with oil and fill the murukku press with the prepared dough using the round eyed disc.Squeeze it on a ladle or small plates.
Drop it carefully in the oil once the oil becomes hot enough.Cook both the sides till the sizzling sound stops and drain it on a paper towel.

Once it becomes cool store it in an air tight container.

• Instead of cumin seeds,sesame seeds can be used.
• If you are making large quantities make the dough in batches otherwise the color may turn dark.
• While dropping the murukku the oil should be hot,then reduce the temperature to medium.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Masala Kuzhambhu

This is a spicy,tangy and flavorful kuzhambhu which is my grand mother signature recipe.She used to make this one with the fresh field beans(mochai) and drumstick,used the stone  grinder(ammi) to grind the coconut.Since I don't get the fresh field beans here,made it with chick peas  and goes very well with rice as well as idly,dosa.Now on to the recipe....

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Chick peas/white channa	1cup(cooked)
Onion	1no.(medium size)
Tomato	2nos.(medium size)
Garlic	3 pods
Drumstick	1no.
Red Chilly powder	11/4tsp
Coriander powder	21/2tsp
Turmeric powder	1/8tsp
Tamarind paste	3/4tsp diluted in 1/4 cup of water
Salt	to taste
Fennel seeds	1/2tsp
Cloves/lavangam	3nos.
Cinnamon	1 inch piece
Star anise	1no.
Curry leaves	1sprig
Coriander leaves	to garnish
Oil	1tbs

To grind

Ingredient	Quantity
Coconut(grated)	4tbs
Fennel seeds	1/2tsp
Poppy seeds(kasakasa)	1/2tsp
Garlic	1clove
Ginger	a small piece

Method

                                   Chop the onion,garlic and tomatoes to fine pieces,cut the drumstick to 2 inch pieces.Cook the chick peas in the pressure cooker with a pinch of salt.Grind the ingredients given to fine paste and keep aside.
Heat the pan with the oil,crackle the fennel seeds,cloves and cinnamon,add the onion,garlic,curry leaves.Saute till the onion becomes transparent.Once the onion is done add the tomato and cook until mushy.

Now add the drumstick pieces and saute it,then add the powders and fry it for a while and add 1/2 cup of water.Let it cook till the drumstick gets cooked and tender.

Add the tamarind and let it cook till the raw smell goes off.Add the ground paste and 1/2 cup of water,cook it for another 5-7 mins.Now add the cooked chick peas and allow it to cook for one boil.Finally add the coriander leaves and turn off the stove.

Masala Kuzhambhu is ready.Serve it with rice or idly,dosa.

• The consistency can be adjusted according to the preference,I make it thick for rice whereas for  dosa  bit watery.
• If the tomatoes are sour enough then no need of tamarind paste.
• Other veggies such as brinjal,radish,potato can also be used.
• Instead of grinding the ginger and garlic with the coconut,a tsp of ginger&garlic paste can also be used.

Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com