Showing posts with label Potato. Show all posts

Mexican Green Rice with Spicy Fried Potatoes

Work has been very stressful lately. All I want to do is get home and start blogging. But at the end of the day I have literally no energy left. In fact, hubby dearest has been cooking dinners too. It’s been raining outside, and I have no time to enjoy it :( . I’m missing watching MasterChef on TV :( . I am craving for my end of the month vacation. I hope for it to be my much needed relief. Until then, my blog will have to be my only source of relaxation. *End of ranting*

Now, back to my sane self. Forgive me, sometimes “Hyper-Stressed out-Worried Anu” makes an appearance here. This post is going to cater to those with lack of time – like me. One pot meal. The answer to a busy night. I know the name sounds simply Exotic. I’ll let you in on a secret *hush* it is only coriander rice *hush*. Yup, you heard it right. Coriander/Cilantro is abundantly available in India, albeit it’s gotten really costly off late. I pay Rs.40 for a bunch :( in Bangalore. I did try growing it. It grew too, though not enough to suffice and the heavy rains killed almost half of my saplings :( . Too many sad smileys. Isn’t that an oxymoron? Sad smiley. Or is there a more appropriate name for it?

For a lot of communities, rice is a side dish and the main is something else. But for us Indians, especially South Indians, rice is the star. Everything else is a side dish. I have seen a lot of friends for whom a meal isn’t complete if they don’t have a spoonful of curd rice at the end. If you have never seen a paddy field, I suggest you do see one, especially in or after the monsoons. That is probably the brightest green nature can throw at you. It really relaxes the eyes and the mind.

The original Mexican rice obviously uses Mexican chillies, I had no time to find exotic chillies, so I just used the regular desi chillies. They are probably a little spicier than their Mexican counterparts, so use it carefully to match your taste buds.

I toyed with the idea of different accompaniments and finally settled on the spicy potato fry. I did seriously consider the raita, but gave it to my greediness of having some fried potatoes *feeling guilty*

So on a slightly free weeknight, we enjoyed a part Mexican and part Indian meal of Green rice with spicy fried potatoes watching another exciting episode of MasterChef. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Mexican Green Rice with Spicy Fried Potatoes

Rice flavored with Coriander and Spinach served with spicy fried potatoes

Recipe Type: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes
Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients:

Mexican Green Rice:

3/4 cup Basmati Rice
1/2 cup coriander leaves
1/2 cup spinach leaves
2-3 cloves of garlic
1-2 green chillies
4 tsp oil
1 Onion
1 tsp Lemon juice
1.5 cups Water
Salt

Spicy Fried Potatoes:

2 Potatoes
3 tsp oil
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Coriander powder
4-5 Curry leaves
Salt

Method:

Mexican Green Rice:

Wash and drain the rice.
Lay it out on a towel to dry.
Grind the spinach, coriander, garlic. onion and green chillies into a coarse paste
Heat oil in a pan/kadhai and add the rice
On a medium flame fry the rice until it is slightly golden appx. 5 mins
Add the green paste, water and salt
Cover and cook on low flame until the rice is cooked
Add lime juice and garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot

Spicy Fried Potatoes:

Peel and chop the potatoes

Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds

Once they splutter, add the curry leaves and the potatoes

Add the spices and salt and mix well

Cover and cook until the potatoes are done

You can have this with roti/chapati also

Bombay Pav Bhaji

The reason I call this the Bombay Pav Bhaji is because I eat and make 2 kinds of Pav bhajis and it gets confusing about which one I'm talking about. The other one being the Goan Pav bhaji ( recipe will be posted soon). The Bombay pav bhaji is the red coloured pav bhaji most commonly eaten across India in restaurants or small chaat carts / gaadis . As a kid, eating out meant small snacks in the evenings, as restaurant culture had not yet caught on as it has today. We would go on my dad's Bajaj scooter to our favorite chaat cart/ gaadi in the market to eat Pav bhaji. With very low tolerance for spices, I was generally stuck eating just butter pav. But as I grew up, the spice tolerance also grew and I was able to enjoy this spicy red bhaji with the greasy yet amazingly tasty butter pav. I'm sure a lot of us have similar memories of the 1990s. Till date, whenever I go home, I make it a point to go to the same gaadi and eat the same pav bhaji. I don't know his secret recipe that makes it so yummy, but I do make it my way at home... The recipe that follows is the way I make it at home...

Bombay Pav Bhaji

A popular Bombay street food consisting of spicy mix vegetable mash and bread rolls/pav.

Recipe Type: Snacks
Cuisine: Indian
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Yield: 2-3 Servings

Ingredients:

3 medium Potato
1 cup chopped Tomato
3/4 cup chopped Onion
1/2 cup chopped Capsicum
1/4 cup chopped Carrot
1/2 cup Cauliflower (broken into small florets or chopped)
1/4 cup Green peas
3-4 cloves or 1 Tbsp paste of Garlic
1" piece or 1 Tbsp paste of Ginger
2 Tbsp Pav bhaji masala (In case you don't have this available, use Garam masala - 1/2 tsp, Coriander powder - 1 tsp, Amchur/ Dry mango powder - 1/4 tsp, Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp)
A pinch of Garam masala
2 Tbsp Butter
Red chilli powder - To taste
Salt - To taste
A handful of Coriander leaves
Lemon wedges

Method:

Boil and peel the potatoes

Boil the carrot, cauliflower, peas and capsicum.

Grind the ginger-garlic into a fine paste.

Heat 1 tbsp of butter in a kadhai or pan

Add the onions and fry until golden brown.

Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry until fragrant.

Add the tomatoes and fry until soft and cooked.

Add all the remaining vegetables and mash them.

Add all the spices and salt.

Add a little water to achieve the desired consistency

Boil for 5-6 mins

Add 1 tbsp of butter on top

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves

Serve hot with some lemon wedges, chopped onion and buttered Pav

Vegetable Pulao

In the early 1990s, cable TVs had just entered homes, infact, TVs had just entered a few homes. International brands were unknown to most except probably those who had travelled abroad. Internet was virtually unheard of and computers unseen by most. Weekends were 1.5 days long and travels by Bajaj scooters. The only McDonald we had heard of was the old farmer who had pigs and ducks on his farm. Eating out was restricted to local foods like pao bhaji, sev puri, samosas and dosas. Eating out was an extravagance, a luxury. Families ate out once in 1-2 months. Sundays became special affairs. Sunday was a day to cook out specialities by the woman of the house. The menu for sunday until lunch was pretty much fixed. Idlis with hot sambhar and spicy chutney for breakfast. And my mom's special Pulao and Chana masala for lunch. How we lusted for the lunch. All the while, playing in the street, the mind was still in the kitchen smelling in the aroma of pulao. My mom's simple yet delicious vegetable pulao was always a favourite among friends and relatives. I use the same recipe, the same ingredients, but I can never match up to the pulao of those early sunday afternoons of my life. But each time I make this pulao, the feeling of nostalgia envelopes me.

Vegetable Pulao

Indian rice pilaf made with vegetables and whole spices

Recipe Type: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Yield: 2-3 Servings

Ingredients:

1 cup Rice
2 cups Water (Or how much is needed to cook 1 cup of rice in a pressure cooker)
1 cup Assorted vegetables (Roughly chopped Cauliflower, Potato, French beans. Carrots and Green Peas)
1 Onion
1 Tomato
2-3 Green Chillies
5-6 Black peppercorns
1-2 Cloves
1" stick Cinnamon
1 Bayleaf / Tej patta (dry)
1 cube Maggi magic cube (veg)
2 Tbsp Oil
Salt

Method:

Wash the rice and spread on a muslin cloth to dry until ready to use.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker

Add the finely chopped onions and slit green chillies

Add all the whole spices and fry until the onions are light brown

Add the tomato and fry for 1 min

Add the rice and fry for 30secs - 1 min

Add the water. Crush the magic cube and add it to the cooker.

Add salt. The magic cube itself has salt, keep that in consideration while adding salt.

Pressure cook for 3-4 whistles or until the rice is done.

Serve hot with raita or pickle

Avial

Avial is I believe a Tamil/ Kerala version of the Kannada majjige huli. Majjige huli is made only from white pumpkin, but Avial has loads of vegetables. An awesome combination with dosa or adai (dal dosa). Don't fret if you don't have all the vegetables mentioned in the list, just add what you have at home and make your own version of avail like I did.

Avial

stew made with vegetables, coconut and yogurt

South Indian stew made with vegetables, coconut and yoghurt

Recipe Type: Main Course
Cuisine: South Indian
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Yield: 2-3 Servings

Ingredients:

1/3 cup Coconut
3 tsp Jeera / Cumin Seeds
2-3 Green Chillies
1 cup Curd / Yoghurt
2.5-3 cups of mixed Vegetables
4-5 Curry Leaves
2 tsp Oil
Water
Salt

Method:

Cut all the vegetables roughly, appx 1” pieces. Generally used vegetables for avail are Drumstick, Carrot, French beans, Yam, Pumpkin, Raw banana and brinjal. I did not have all these, so I used Carrot, French beans, brinjal, potato and capsicum.

Boil water in a pan and add the vegetables to it and cook until they are done but still firm. Add the vegetables that take longer to cook first. Veggies like brinjal, capsicum, raw banana can be added after 3-4 mins.

Grind together coconut, 2 tsp jeera and green chillies into a fine paste.

Add the paste to the vegetables once the vegetables are done

Add salt and 1 cup water and boil for 3-4 mins. Adjust the water according to the desired consistency.

Beat the curd until smooth and add to the avial. Cook for 2 mins on low flame.

Heat oil in a small pan and add the cumin seeds. Once they slightly brown, add the curry leaves and pour this tempering to the avial.

Enjoy hot with rice or dosa.

Rice tikkis

This was a busy week and an even busier weekend, so nothing much was cooked. Lunches and dinners were eaten out, cornflakes made it to the breakfast table. That left me with a little leftover rice from friday. So I decided to make rice tikkis as saturday evening snacks. These were relished by hubby dearest and one could not tell these were made from leftovers.

Ingredients:

Rice - 1.5 cups (cooked)
Sweet potato / Potato - 3/4th cup (peeled and grated)
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup (Chopped)
Curry leaves - 5-6
Chilli sauce - 2 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Oil for frying

Method:

Pulse the rice in the mixer for around 2-5 seconds until it is slightly mashed.
Mix the rice with the grated potato/ sweet potato
Add the coriander leaves, curry leaves, chilli sauce, red chilli powder, garam masala, salt and around 3 tsp of oil
Knead for a few minutes to ensure everything is well mixed
Make small balls from the dough and flatten them
Heat a tava and grease it. You can also deep fry these. Deep fried ones taste better (as usual :))
Place the tikkis on the tava and spoon oil over them. I used at least 1 tsp oil per tikki.
Fry until brown on both sides.
Enjoy with ketchup.

Aloo gobi

Sunday nights bring out mixed emotions… Weekend isn’t yet over but the week is visible at the horizon. Sunday nights confuse my brain, should I be happy that it is still the weekend? Or should I be sad that Monday is approaching? Whenever I am in confusion or in sadness, I find solace in food (hence, the weight issues). So food has to be simple, so as not to add to the confusion, and tasty, so it improves my mood. Aloo gobi is a perfect meal for Sunday nights. Easy to make and yummy too. It is a recipe that can seldom go wrong. So go ahead and add a teaspoon of life to aloo gobi…

Ingredients:

Cauliflower – ½ large or 1 small

Potatoes – 2 medium

Onion - 1 medium

Garlic – 2-3 cloves

Ginger – 1” piece

Green chillies – 1-2

Oil – 4 tsp

Cumin seeds / Jeera – 1 tsp

Kasuri methi – 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder / haldi – 1 tsp

Red chili powder – ½-1 tsp

Garam masala – ½ tsp

Coriander powder / Dhania powder – 2 tsp

Cumin powder / Jeera powder – 1 tsp

Hing – a pinch

Coriander leaves – a handful

Method:

Wash the cauliflower in warm water and salt and split into small florets

Peel and cube the potatoes

Cook the potatoes with water and salt until almost done (around 6-7 mins)

Heat oil in a kadhai and add the cumin seeds and chopped green chillies

Add crushed ginger and garlic and chopped onions. You may use ginger garlic paste instead.

Fry until the onion turns translucent.

Add kasuri methi, hing, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala, coriander powder and cumin powder

Fry for 1 min

Add the cauliflower florets and mix well

Cover and cooke for 7-8 mins until the cauliflower is almost done

Add the potatoes and salt and cover and cook until both potato and cauliflower are done

Serve hot with roti.

Uppit / Upma

Uppit is easy breakfast to make in large quantities. I never liked uppit as a kid, but I think eating the breakfast available in my hostel mess, made me crave for things like uppit. As of most south Indian recipes, the taste of uppit can be altered by the addition/deletion of certain ingredients. You may add capscicum, dill leaves etc, to enhance the taste. You may also exclude vegetables mentioned below to get a different taste.

Uppit

Fry all the vegetable in oil

Add tomato to the fried vegetables

After the water evaporates, cover and rest until rava is cooked

Add coriander and freshly grated coconut and serve hot

Ingredients:

Rava/ Semolina – 1 cup
Water – 2.5 cups
Oil – 1-2 tbsp
Potato – 1 small
Carrot – 1 small
Beans – 8-10
Green peas – ¼ cup (optional)
Onion – 1 medium
Tomato – 2 medium
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Jeera / Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Ginger - 1/2" piece
Green chillies – 2-3
Coriander leaves – a handful (optional)
Grated fresh coconut – 2 tbsp (optional)
Salt

Method:

Roast the rava in a kadhai.You can add a tsp of oil while roasting.

Roast for around 3-4 mins until it turns slightly brown. It may take longer. Make sure you don’t burn it. Generally color and fragrance tell you it is done.
Heat oil in a kadhai. Add mustard seeds and jeera and allow them to splutter.
Add urad dal and crushed ginger piece.
Add finely chopped onion and slit green chillis and fry until the onions are translucent.
Add finely chopped potato, carrot and beans. Add the green peas.
Cover and allow to cook for around 6-7 mins until the vegetables are almost cooked.
Add tomato and cook for another 2 mins until the tomato softens
Add the water to the kadhai.
Add salt and allow the water to boil.
Once the water has boiled, add the roasted rava and cover and cook until all the water evaporates (approximately 3-5 mins)
Once the water has evaporated, cover the kadhai and rest for around 10 mins.
Add coriander and grated coconut and serve hot.

Sabudana Khichdi or Sabakki Khichdi

The moment I mention I'm making Sabudana Khichdi, I see lit up eyes at home. Sabudana Khichdi is a famous Mahashtrian Upvas (fasting) meal. It is basically a stir fry of fluffed up Sabudana or Sago Pearls with boiled potato and crushed peanuts.

For a long long time (read 18 years), I assumed Sabudana was a whole grain. The name is misleading. "Dana" means grain in Hindi, so I assumed it is a grain. Much later the internet opened my eyes to reality. It is a man made grain.

I don't know what to classify the Sabudana Khichdi as - slow food or fast food? It is super quick to make once you have fluffed up sabudana. But to get fluffed up sabudana requires some advance planning. I know the prep isn't as much, but you still need to soak the sabudana.

Everyone loves it when it is well made. There are so many ways to mess up this otherwise simple khichdi, go through the "Quick Tips" list below:

Quick Tips:

1) To get fluffy Sabudana or Sago, soak it in water for around 15-20 minutes. Then drain out the water completely. Cover and leave it to fluff for 2-3 hours.
2) If you plan to make it for breakfast, you can follow step (1) and then after draining out the water, cover and leave it in the fridge overnight.
3) If you do not remove the water completely, it tends to get sticky and becomes one big lump, so drain the water completely.
4) Do not soak for more than half hour to one hour depending on the variety of Sago / Sabudana you have, they tend to dissolve in water.
5) Don't add any water while cooking. If you need to loosen it, add oil. Water will make it sticky and gluggy.

Sabudana Khichdi or Sabakki Khichdi

A famous Maharastrian Upvas snack made with sabudana or sago pearls and peanuts.

Recipe Type: Breakfast / Snacks
Cuisine: Maharastrian
Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook time: 15 minutes
Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 cup Sago Pearls or Sabudana
1 Potato(boiled, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes)
8-10 Curry leaves
1-2 Green Chilli (chopped)
3-4 Tbsp Peanuts
1/2 tsp Lime juice
4 tsp Oil
1 tsp Cumin seeds
Salt to taste
A handful of fresh Coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

Wash the sabudana and leave it aside for 2-3 hours until the sabudanas are soft. In case you don't have enough time to leave it aside in the morning, wash them the previous night, drain the water and store in a box in the fridge. You can use it in the morning. Refer to the Quick Tips above for more info.
Roast the peanuts and grind them to a powder in a mixer. This can also be done the previous night and kept ready for morning. You can replace this with flax seed powder as well or roasted pumpkin seed powder.
Heat oil in a kadhai and add the cumin seeds. Once the seeds splutter, green chillis,curry leaves and potato.
Cook for around 1-2 mins. Add the sabudana and salt.
Stir on stove for around 2-3 minutes, then add the peanut powder. Mix well.
Remove from heat and add coriander and lime juice and serve hot.

Batata Poha | Avalakki Uppit

Diwali mandated this dish in our house. Apparently when Rama was returning to Ayodhya after killing Ravana, he was served avalakki on the way by villagers. Hence, we make this every diwali. At least from what I know people in North Karnataka, Goa and Maharastra make this on diwali. I've heard the same story but with different dishes. People in mangalore claim Rama was given dosa, so they make dosa. People around Bangalore claim he was served akki rotti with pumpkin palya and they make that. But in my heart I will always believe he was served avalakki :) It isn't that this is made only on diwali, it is a very common breakfast dish anyway and very easy to make.
The type of avalakki or poha or flattened rice used differs between people. Nobody uses the paper variety for this dish though. Preferably medium or thick.

How to make Avalakki Uppit or Soosla recipe at www.oneteaspoonoflife.com

Batata Poha | Avalakki Uppit

Batata Poha or Avalakki Uppit is a popular breakfast in South and West India. It is made by stirfrying soaked poha or avalakki or flattened rice with potatoes.

Recipe Type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Yield: Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

3 cups medium Poha (Avalakki/Flattened Rice)
1 small Onion, sliced
1 green Chilli, chopped
1 Potato, boiled and diced
3-4 tsp Oil
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
0.5 tsp Turmeric Powder (Haldi)
2 Tbsp Coriander leaves, chopped
1 Tbsp grated Coconut
1 Tbsp Lime juice
6-8 Curry leaves
Salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a kadhai.
Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds.
After the mustard seeds have spluttered, add the green chillies, curry leaves and chopped onion to the oil and fry until the onions turn translucent.
Once the onions are cooked add the potato and the turmeric powder. Mix well. Stir for 1 minute.
Wash the poha twice in water and drain the water immediately. This is for medium thick. In case you are using thick avalakki (it actually resembles rice), you may need to keep it soaked for sometime to make it soft. Soak it for at least 5 mins in warm water before starting to cook it.
Add poha to kadhai and mix well.
Add salt to taste.
Stir for sometime and remove off heat.
Add lime juice as per taste.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and grated coconut. Serve hot.