Millet Lemon Rice | Samai Chitranna

South Indian style Lemon Rice made with little millets or samai.

I've newly discovered my love for millet - those ancient grains.

Off late I have been trying to eat healthier at night. My best friend lost a lot of weight by just avoiding eating rice at night, and I am inspired. I decided to give it a try. Although I'm not much of a rice person, there are nights when all I want is some rice and curry for dinner, you know, comfort food. Especially when I've been stressed out at work and the night is unusually chilly, which it kinda is with the monsoons setting in. In my bid to avoid rice, I've found a best friend in millet.

Millet are the best replacement for rice, they taste like rice and they cook like rice. They just are smaller in size, more like broken rice. And right now, they are a rage.

With an entire society reeling with obesity and health issues, everyone is trying to eat healthy, organic, seasonal and local. And millet have gained a large following thanks to that. They are also very nutritious and full of fiber. There are several varieties of millet available with Foxtail millet and Little millet being the closest to rice (according to me). They can also easily replace Quinoa in a recipe, they are much cheaper than quinoa, and close to its nutritional value. Millets are also gluten free. You can read more about millet here.

Now, to my recipe - Millet Lemon Rice. Lemon rice is a very common and popular way to use leftover rice in South India. I have replaced the rice with little millet in my recipe. Just like the regular Lemon Rice is best made with a day old rice, millet lemon rice is best made with cooled cooked millet, preferably a day old. I used half day old millet and it turned out perfect. To cook millet either follow the directions on the packet or cook it the same way you would cook rice. I cooked mine in the pressure cooker, you can cook it in a pan on the stove top or in a rice cooker.

While tempering the lemon rice, you can add peanuts or cashew nuts to add crunch to the dish. You can also skip the onions and capsicum and just make it plain.

Millet Lemon Rice can be served as breakfast or meal. It is easy to carry in a lunch box. It can be accompanied with Indian Pickle, Raita or crispy fried papads.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com. I'd love to see what you are upto.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family!

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Millet Lemon Rice

Little millets or Samai are cooked and tossed in a tempering of mustard seeds, lentils, curry leaves, turmeric powder and lime juice. This is the perfect way to use left over millets.

Recipe Type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Total time: 70 minutes
Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients:

0.75 cup uncooked Little Millet or 3 cups cooked Little Millet
1.5 cup Water
3 tsp Oil
1 Onion
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
0.25 tsp Asafoetida (Hing)
1 Tbsp Chana Dal (Optional)
8-10 Curry leaves
0.5 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 Lime
0.5 tsp Sugar
0.5 Capsicum
Salt to taste

Method:

1. If using uncooked millets, soak them in water for 30-45 minutes. You can soak them overnight as well.
2. Drain out the water and pressure cook with 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt until done (2-3 whistles). If you don't have a pressure cooker, just cook it the same way you cook rice.
3. Fluff it with a fork and keep aside to cool. Lemon rice works best with a day old millet, so you can prep this a day in advance.
4. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.
5. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the chana dal. Allow it to brown slightly.
6. Add the curry leaves and chopped green chillies.
7. Add finely chopped onion. Saute until the onions are browned.
8. Now add roughly chopped capsicum and saute for 3-4 minutes. You can add Cashews or peanuts too.
9. Add the turmeric powder, salt and juice of half lime. Mix well.
10. Add the millet and mix well.
11. Now as per taste, add in more lime juice, sugar and salt.
12. Garnish with the chopped coriander leaves.
13. Serve hot with raita.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Ghee Rice

Raw Mango Rice

Methi Rice

10 Vegan Indian Curries [Ready in 75 minutes or less!!]

A compilation of ten vegan Indian curries that are ready in 75 minutes or less.

Hey I'm back with my compilation of 10. And this time it is Curry!!

It is obvious that being Indian, I love my curry. There is nothing more comforting than a bowl of curry on a cold night. Curry can be made with poultry, seafood and meat or it can be made with simple vegetarian and vegan ingredients. Today I am listing down 10 of my favorite vegan Indian curries from the blog. Hope you enjoy it!!

1) Lahsuni Methi Mushroom [50 minutes]

A vegan curry made by simmering mushrooms in a fragrant garlic and fenugreek flavored masala gravy. This curry is unique in fragrance and flavor because of the slightly bitter methi leaves.

2) Mushroom Palak [60 minutes]

There had to be one curry in the list that was made purely of Spinach. While the Palak Paneer is the most popular spinach curry out there, this one uses Mushrooms instead of Paneer, making it vegan friendly and popular among mushroom lovers. The mushroom also adds loads of flavor to the curry.

Mushrooms cooked in a vibrant spinach curry

3) Lauki Kofta [75 minutes]

Koftas are generally balls made of meat that are added to curries. However, here the koftas are made of bottle gourd. If you don't have bottle gourd, replace it with Zucchini which is the closest to it in texture.

Bottle gourd dumplings in a tomato based gravy

4) South Indian Chana Masala [75 minutes]

My most pinned recipe - South Indian Chana Masala. There are 2 versions of the popular Chana Masala made with boiled chickpeas - the North Indian one that is made with tomatoes and is more easily available in restaurants all over the world and the South Indian one that is made with coconut and is only available in South India.

South Indian Chickpea Curry with coconut

5) Punjabi Dum Aloo [75 minutes]

Punjabi Dum Aloo is rich, creamy yet vegan curry in which baby potatoes are simmered in a delicately spiced tomato based gravy.

Vegan glutenfree creamy north indian punjabi dum aloo baby potatoes masala gravy

6) Babycorn Masala [60 minutes]

Baby Corn Masala is a semi dry curry made by tossing stir fried Baby Corn in a North Indian style tomato masala gravy. Easy and very quick to make, this will be ready in less than an hour.

baby corn masala tomato gravy north indian curry

7) Bom Chount Wangan [55 minutes]

A unique Kashmiri curry made with green apples and brinjal or eggplant. Sweet and spicy, this curry is unique in it's flavors.

Kashmiri Apple Granny Smith Brinjal Eggplant aubergine curry bom chount wangan

8) Coorg Pumpkin Curry [70 minutes]

This curry from the beautiful region of Coorg in South India. And like all South Indian curries, this one has a coconut base. This curry is a mix of sweet, salty and spicy flavors.

Coorg Pumpkin Curry kaddu sabzi coconut vegan kumbalkai palya

9) Vegetable Stew [55 minutes]

Mildly spiced vegetable stew made by cooking colorful peppers, cauliflower, carrots and beans in coconut milk.

10) Vegetable Jalfrezi [60 minutes]

Jalfrezi is a popular curry made with tomatoes and a mix of vegetables. You can add Paneer to the curry if you are making a non-vegan version. For vegans, add some fried tofu to take it to another level.

mix vegetable gravy paneer jalfrezi indian

If you tried these recipes, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com. I'd love to see what you are upto.

If you like these recipes, do not forget to share it with your friends and family!

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

If you liked this, you may also like:

Eggplant Coconut Curry [Video]

Vegan Eggplant Curry made by simmering sauteed eggplant in a spicy coconut gravy.

Vegan curry made with eggplant and coconut milk

It was today, 12 years ago that I stepped foot into the Corporate jungle. My first day at my first job. A job I had waited 1.5 years to join, a long wait. A special day in the life of a young Engineer.

It was also special for another reason. It was the day I met Raj. We've known each other for 12 years, starting from that day. 12 years is a long time to know someone. You tend to learn every annoying little detail there is, every story has been told, there are no skeletons left in the cupboard. When I predict he will do something to the "T", he thinks I'm guessing, but I know him so well that I don't need to guess anymore. There is comfort in knowing someone so well, there is warmth in trusting a person so much.

These two feelings of comfort and warmth are echoed in today's curry. A good curry is like a warm hug from inside. It is supposed to make you feel at home, it is supposed to make you smile for no reason at all. It is supposed to make you feel like you are in your pajamas even when you are dressed to impress. It is supposed to be something you cannot resist taking another helping of. This Eggplant Coconut Curry is all that, and more!

This Eggplant Coconut Curry is made by first sauteing roughly diced eggplant in coconut oil until they are brown and soft. Then a gravy is made by adding coconut milk to sauteed onion and tomato puree. Spices, a lot of them are added to flavor the curry. The curry is finished off in true Indian style with a tempering or "tadka" of mustard seeds and curry leaves. Garnish with sliced almonds and the quintessential coriander leaves. You can use pine nuts or cashew nuts too. This is just an indulgent step and skipping it will not affect the flavor of your dish.

This curry is simple if you know your way around in the kitchen. If not, I have a quick video to help you out. This Eggplant Curry is vegan. It can be made gluten free by skipping the asafoetida. It can also be easily doubled or tripled and is perfect for a large family gathering. It requires barely any prep too.

The Eggplant Curry uses a mix of different spices like fennel powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and garam masala. If you don't have all of them, just use what you have, or use your favorite Indian spice blend or curry powder.

Serve the curry with roti, naan or jeera rice like I did.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family!

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

Video Recipe

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Eggplant Coconut Curry

Flavorful curry made by simmering sauteed eggplant in a vegan gravy made with coconut milk and flavored with a mix of spices.

Recipe Type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes
Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 large Eggplant (bharta baingan)
1 cup Coconut Milk
1 large Onion
2 medium Tomato
1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
1 tbsp Fennel Powder
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
0.5 tsp Turmeric Powder
0.5 tsp Garam Masala
A pinch of Asafoetida (Hing)
3 Tbsp Coconut Oil
0.5 tsp Mustard seeds
8-10 Curry leaves
Salt to taste
0.5 cup Water
Sliced almonds to garnish (Optional)
Handful of Coriander leaves

Method:

1. Dice the eggplant into small pieces.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp coconut oil in a pan and add the diced eggplant.
3. Add salt to taste and saute the eggplant until it is cooked. Remove and keep aside.
4. Puree the onion and tomato separately.
5. Heat 1 Tbsp coconut oil in a pan and add the pureed onion.
6. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute until the onion browns slightly.
7. Add the pureed tomato and cook until the liquid evaporates.
8. Add all the spice powders and mix well.
9. Add 0.5 cup of water and simmer on low heat until for 4-5 minutes.
10. Add the coconut milk, salt to taste and the sauteed eggplant. Mix well and simmer on low heat for 4-5 minutes.
11. Heat the remaining oil in a different pan. Add the mustard seeds and allow them to splutter.
12. Once the mustard splutters, add the curry leaves and remove from heat.
13. Add this tempering to the curry.
14. Garnish the curry with sliced almonds and chopped coriander leaves.
15. Serve hot with roti or rice.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Lahsuni Methi Mushroom

How to make grilled aubergine or brinjal hummus rolls at www.oneteaspoonoflife.com

Grilled Eggplant Rolls

Punjabi Dum Aloo

Achari Bhindi Dahiwali | Spicy Okra Curry with Yogurt [Video]

Pan fried okra cooked in a curry made with pickle spices and yogurt.

There are 2 kinds of people in the world, one who love Okra or Bhindi and one that wouldn't be caught dead eating it. I was a latter, I hated bhindi all through my childhood - I mean which kid really enjoys the slime? Until about 5 years ago, when I had run out of veggies to cook for the day, I picked up some fresh bhindi and decided I could try to convert the hate to at least a tolerable feeling. Frankly, all I needed to do that was learn how to cook the okra correctly. See my tips below.

I have the following tips to cook the okra, just right:

The first tip for cooking okra, if you don't like slime, is to never cover it while cooking. Cook the okra in an open pan, always.
Preferably use a flat pan and do not crowd it. A wok or a kadhai, ends up steaming a few pieces of okra at least, and when steamed, okra tends to get slimy.
Be liberal with the oil. If cooking on a stove, use sufficient oil. The oil helps make the okra crispy and stops it from steaming. If you want to use less oil, grill the okra in a pan in the oven. This recipe tastes equally delicious with grilled okra.
Cook okra on medium to high heat stirring regularly. Okra cooked in low heat, again, tends to get slimy.
Avoid adding water to the okra while cooking. Okra loves oil, let it cook in oil alone. Don't add any water or any ingredients that may leave their juices (like tomatoes) until the okra is almost cooked.

Once I had mastered the art of cooking okra, there was no turning back. I've made okra innumerable times since then, and loved it.

This Achari Bhindi Dahiwali translates simply into Pickled Okra in Yogurt. This curry uses the pickling spices used in North Indian pickles. While the okra is not pickled, it is cooked with a spice blend made inspired by the pickles. Pickle spices usually include - fennel seeds (saunf), carom seeds (ajwain), mustard seeds (rai), fenugreek seeds (methi dana), asafoetida (hing) and dried mango powder (amchur). I have reduced the quantity of fenugreek seeds as they are bitter in taste.

To make this recipe vegan, use vegan yogurt like cashew yogurt or coconut yogurt.

To make Achari Bhindi Dahiwali, we first slice the okra lengthwise. You can chop it how you please, lengthwise just made it visually appealing to me. The okra is pan fried with oil. I've made it before by grilling the okra in the oven, the curry tastes the same and uses a lot less oil.

Then the gravy is made by cooking onions and tomatoes with the pickling spices and blending it. Whisked yogurt is added to the gravy to finish it off. Toss in the cooked okra and serve it hot with rotis.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family!

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Achari Bhindi Dahiwali

Okra cooked with Indian pickle spices and whisked yogurt. Bhindi curry made with North Indian achaar masala and dahi.

Recipe Type:  Main
Cuisine:   North Indian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Yield:   2-3 Servings

Ingredients:

25 small Okra (bhindi)
1 Onion
1 Tomato
1 cup Yogurt (dahi)
4 Tbsp Oil
1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
0.5 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
0.5 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tbsp Fennel Seeds (Saunf)
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Carom seeds (Ajwain)
4-5 Fenugreek Seeds (Methi dana)
1 tsp Dry Mango Powder (Amchur)
Pinch of Asafoetida (Hing)
Handful of Coriander leaves
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Dry roast the fennel seeds, mustard seeds, carom seeds and fenugreek seeds.
2. Grind them to a fine powder along with the asafoetida and the dry mango powder. Keep aside.
3. Heat 2 Tbsp Oil in a flat pan and add the chopped bhindi to it. Saute until the bhindi are soft and cooked. Never cover the bhindi while cooking, it will tend to get slimy. Remove and keep aside.
4. Heat 1 Tbsp Oil in the same pan and add the ginger garlic paste.
5. Once the ginger-garlic is fragrant, add finely chopped onions and fry until translucent.
6. Add in chopped tomato and stir well.
7. Mix in the achari spice blend we made earlier along with salt and turmeric powder and cook until the tomatoes are soft.
8. Blend into a fine paste with little water once cooled slightly.
9. Heat the remaining oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds.
10. Once they brown slightly, add the blended paste and cook on low heat for 4-5 minutes.
11. Stir in whisked yogurt and red chilli powder. Adjust seasoning if required. Cook for 2-3 minutes on low heat.
12. Add the pan fried bhindi and mix well. Simmer for 4-5 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with rotis.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Lahsuni Methi Mushroom

How to make spicy tomato soup recipe at One Teaspoon Of Life www.oneteaspoonoflife.com

Tomato Curry with Okra

Punjabi Dum Aloo

Blueberry Litchi Coconut Mocktail

Summer is not yet over! Enjoy this mocktail made with sweet blueberries, fragrant litchis and healthy coconut water before it is too late.

Happy July to you!!

Can you believe we are already six months down in 2018? Time surely flies fast.

While it is already monsoons in this part of the world, I know Summer is just starting for a few folks out there.

This mocktail was waiting to be made for a long time now. I watched a similar cocktail on TV and I was bowled. I had to make it. The only thing that was really stopping me was the unavailability of blueberries. And I finally got some plump sweet blueberries at Namdhari's over the weekend, that too at slashed prices. This was my first time eating sweet blueberries. Somehow, until date, I've only managed to get slightly sour ones and I had come to expect that blueberries never got sweeter as they ripened. But hey, they do get sweet. I'm yet to find sweet strawberries, but I now have some little hope that I may find it some day.

I also chanced upon these extremely fragrant and flavorful litchis while I was out there. They grew at their own farm. I would never have picked up a bag of green litchis, but they let us try a few and they were so sweet, we could hardly believe it. I've only ever had red litchis. These litchis are so fragrant, I love opening my fridge just to catch a whiff!

Anyway, after the blueberries and the litchi, comes the coconut. This mocktail uses the tender coconut water - the best summer drink there is. I'm very lucky to have access to fresh tender coconuts, but if you don't, you can replace it with packaged tender coconut or young coconut water or just some Sprite or plain Soda or Sparkling water.

If the fruit you have aren't sweet enough, stir in some raw honey or sugar. I had really sweet fruits and tender coconut water, so I did not need to sweeten it any other way. Also, if you plan to make it in advance and serve it after a while, add a little lime juice or lemon juice so that it does not discolor. I had a brighter purple before I took the pics, but since I missed adding any citrus the color changed slightly.

If you'd rather have this as a cocktail, you can add vodka or tequila. The original recipe from TV had vodka and lavender but no litchis.

These paired really well with the Bread Pizza Cups that I shared on Friday.

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

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Blueberry Litchi Coconut Mocktail

A non-alcoholic drink made with fresh blueberries, fragrant litchis and young tender coconut water.

Recipe Type: Beverage
Cuisine: International
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 0 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes
Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients:

1.5 cups Blueberries
10 Litchis
2 Tender Coconuts
0.5 Lime
Ice as required
Sweetner if required

Method:

1. Peel the litchis and deseed them.
2. Blend together 1 cup of blueberries, litchis and lime juice until smooth.
3. Strain if you desire.
4. Add coconut water and mix.
5. If the drink is not sweet enough for you, you can add raw honey or sugar.
6. Fill the glasses with ice and pour the drink over them. Add the remaining blueberries in each glass.
7. Serve chilled.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Indian mocktail made with guava and spices

Guava Panna

Panaka

Jamun Ice Candy