Green Pulao

Mint pulao or green pulao is so flavorful and easy to prepare. Mint is called as "Phudina" in Tamil. This recipe recalls my childhood memories when my mum used to pack my lunch box with the phudina rice & potato fry which I used to share with my classmates.

Whenever I prepare this dish, our home will be filled with nice aroma and inviting us for an early lunch. This dish goes well with any simple raita or veg korma. I'm happy to share my mom's recipe with you all :)... Enjoy!

   

                             

 

Ingredients

To grinding

• Mint (washed and roughly chopped) - 1bunch 
• Cilantro (washed and roughly chopped) - 1/2 bunch 
• Shallot - 7 
• Garlic clove - 5
• Ginger - 1 inch 
• Green chilli - 4 
• Sugar (to retain the color) - pinch 

For the rice 

• Basmati rice (soak in hot water for half an hour) - 2cups
• Onion (finely sliced) - 1
• Bay leaf - 1 
• Cardamom - 2
• Clove - 2
• Cinnamon - 1
• Salt as needed 
• Ghee - 2tsp
• Oil - 1tsp
• Water - 3cups

Method 

• Grind all the ingredients under the "to grind" into a smooth paste. 
• Heat kadai with ghee & oil, add cardamom, clove, cinnamon and bay leaf. Saute for few minutes then add onion, fry until it turns transparent pink color.

                             

• Now add green paste and saute till raw smell goes. 
• Drain the water and add soaked basmati, give a quick stir. Add water bring it boil. 
• Cook in high flame till water is absorbed by the rice. Now cover with lid and cook in low flame for 10-15 minutes without disturbing.

                           

• After rice is cooked, switch off the flame and wait for 5 minutes.
• Now fluff the rice with fork and serve it with raita and chips.

                         

                            

Tips

• You can get creative with the recipe and add tomatoes, paneer, soya protein, veggies etc as per your preference.

Raw Mango Chutney (Manga Thogayal)

Hello friends! I'm back again with an interesting chutney/thogayal recipe. I am a crazy lover to the yummy flavor and tangy taste of mango. Whenever I have manga  or mango in any form, it always stays in the taste bud for a long time. It is the season of mangoes in tropical regions and most of us will be doing pickle, rice, pachadi or sambar. Why not  try this thogayal or chutney for a change. It goes well with dosai, idly and plain steamed rice with ghee. Here you go with the recipe...

                                   

Mint Cilantro Raita

Mint and Cilantro are like best friends.This combination is my all time favorite. The taste of this simple raitha is so flavorful and refreshing especially for  summer as curd keeps our body cool. This is one of the easiest and quick raita that goes good with any kind of Biryani. But I personally liked it with the quinoa pulao. I think raita doesn't need more introduction, so here you go straight to the recipe. 
                               

           

Roasted Peanut Salad

Yippee!! I ll be traveling to India soon and I am thrilled to bits, so SO excited  There are lot of things I miss about India.

  Family and friends of course are at top of the list (Oh! Skype, what would we do without you)

My favorite food- Though we get Indian food and groceries here there are certain few things I am not contented with.One such thing is peanut salad. 

During my college days my friends & I used to go to this restaurant like once a week just to eat this. It was so funny that the waiters stopped giving us the menu card after few days and happily served us the salad. I made my version of this salad and although it wasn't really close to the one I love, my husband loved it :)

So what exactly is this roasted peanut salad ?

It's simply a salad which is protein rich, scrumptious and refreshing since it is made of fresh ingredients & super easy to whip up.

INGREDIENTS

• roasted peanuts - 2 cups
•  chopped onion - 1 cup
• chopped tomatoes - 1 cup
• chopped cucumber - 1 cup
• finely chopped green chilli - 1 or 2
• juice of lemon - 1 tbsp
• chaat masala - to taste(optional)
• salt - to taste
• finely chopped cilantro - to garnish 

METHOD 

Add the roasted peanuts in a bowl.

Add onions & green chillies

 some tomatoes

and some cucumber

add salt, lime juice & chaat masala

 Toss well and garnish with finely chopped cilantro.

Serve it as tea time or mid night snack with some drinks

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Cilantro-Lime Rice

I am so chuffed that you all liked my Veggie-Tofu recipe. As promised, here I am with the recipe for cilantro-lime rice. Usually at restaurants you find it as a side for any Mexican food or used as filler in burritos. 

This recipe is a huge hit in our family and there's more than 1 reason why we love it. 1) it's so quick to make  2) it's a flavor bomb.

Cilantro/Coriander storage

Cilantro/coriander comes in a much bigger bunch than I intend to use at one time.So whenever I buy them, I end up throwing most of it away as they turn black so quick.But it has never stopped me from getting them every time I hit the grocery store ...and each time, with a firmer resolve to use them wisely.But it has always been a shame to see those lovely fresh cilantro go waste.

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