Vegetable Pulao or Veg. Pulav

Ingredients
Basmathi Rice - 400 gms
Potato - 1 (cut into small cubes)
Carrot - 2 (cut into small cubes)
Beans - 10 (cut into small pieces)
Peas - a small cup
Sweetcorn - a small cup
Cauliflower - few florets
Green Chilli - 2 (small cut in the front)
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp
Corriander Powder - 3/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Water - 800 ml

Fried Onions
Oil - 2 tbsp
Onion - 1 (large, cut lengthwise)
Corn Flour - 1 tbsp
Salt - very little

To Season 1
Oil - 1 tbsp
Cinnamon - 1 small piece
Cloves - 4 or 5
Green Cardamom - 2
Black Cardamom - 1
Bay Leaf - 1
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

To Season 2
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Cashews - 10
Raisins - 15

Preparation

Soak the rice for 15 to 20 minutes. Wash the soaked rice and drain the water.

In a bowl add corn flour and little salt. Coat the cut onions and deep fry it in hot oil till it turns dark brown.
Place it on a tissue paper and keep it aside.

Heat Oil in a pan and add items given in "To Season 1" one-by-one.

Add the ginger garlic paste, green chillies, salt and saute for a minute.
Now add all the cut vegaetables, all the dry powders and saute it for 5 to 10 minutes.

Give a ghee coating in the rice cooker bowl. To the ghee coated bowl, add the water, soaked rice and cooked vegetables.

Put the rice cooker in cooking mode and when it turns to Keeping Warm mode, give it a standing time of 3 minutes.

Heat Ghee in a small pan or kadai. Add the cashews, raisins and saute for 2 minutes. Add the fried onions to this mixture and turn off the stove.

Add the fried onions - dry fruits mixture to the cooked pulao. Mix it gently and transfer the Pulao to a serving dish.

Vangi Bath or Brinjal Rice

Vangi Bath or Brinjal Rice is one of those popular dishes from Karnataka. This is a spicy rice dish with few dry coarse powder. It can be served with Appalam, Pappad and Potato Chips.

Few of my teammates love Vangi Bath that is prepared by me.

Here is the recipe..

Ingredients
Brinjals - 4 (medium sized, slit lengthwise)
Basmathi Rice - 250 gms
Onions - 1
Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Salt - as required
Water - 400 ml

To Grind
Channa Dhal - 1 tbsp
Whole Dhaniya - 1/4 tbsp
Fenugreek Seeds - less than 1/4 tsp
Small Dry Red Chillies - 6
Cumin Seeds - 3/4 tsp

To Season
Channa Dhal - 1/2 tsp
Urad Dhal - 1/2 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry Leaves - few

Procedure
(1) Dry roast the items given in "To Grind" by adding them one-by-one in a hot pan
(2) Heat Oil in a pan and add items given in "To Season" one-by-one
(3) Add the chopped onions, half the salt and saute it for 5 min
(4) Add turmeric powder and saute till onions turns light brown
(5) Add the lengthwise chopped Brinjal pieces
(6) Cover and cook till Brinjal pieces are cooked
(7) Grind the dry roasted items as a coarse powder
(8) Add the coarse powder to the cooked brinjal pieces
(9) Saute it till the raw smell is off
(10) Now add the grated coconut to it

(11) Boil the Rice in a rice cooker and spread it in a wide plate
(12) Allow the rice to cool for few minutes
(11) Add the boiled rice to the brinjal mixture
(12) Pour a tablespoon of ghee and mix it again
(13) Transfer the Brinjal Rice to a serving dish

(14) Now your Vangi Bath is ready to be served hot

Peas Pulao

Peas Pulao is a very popular dish in India that goes well with onion raitha and all other curries & gravies especially mushroom masala, egg curry. A simple and perfect dish to be prepared on your parties.

I modified this dish by adding few masalas that gave a real nice aroma and taste.

It came out real good and here is the recipe..


Ingredients
Peas - 150 gms
Basmathi Rice - 200 gms (washed, soaked in water for 20 min)
Onion - 2 (thinly sliced lengthwise)
Green Chillies - 1 or 2
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 3/4 tsp
Corriander powder - 2 tsp
Water - 400 ml
Salt - to taste

To Season
Butter - 1/4 tsp
Ghee - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 2 strips
Cloves - 3
Green Cardamom - 2
Bay Leaf - 1 (small)

To Garnish
Ghee fried Cashews - 6
Carrot - few pieces
Capsicum - few pieces

Procedure
(1) Heat Butter, Ghee & Oil in a pan.
(2) Add the items given in To Season one-by-one.
(3) Add thin-sliced onions, little salt and saute till it turns dark brown.
(4) Add green chillies, ginger garlic paste & saute till raw smell is off.
(5) Now add the Peas and saute for 2 minutes.
(6) Add all the dry powders and some more salt.
(7) Add the soaked Basmathi rice and saute it for a minute very gently.
(8) Add water to the rice, cover the pan with a lid & allow it to cook for 5 min
(9) Grease the rice cooker pan with ghee all over its sides and bottom.
(10)Transfer the rice to the greased pan and cook it.
(11)It would turn its mode to Keep Warm once cooking is done.
(12)Allow it for a standing time of 5 min.
(13)Garnish the Pulao with items given in To Garnish.
(14)Serve the Masala Peas Pulao with onion raitha.

Mushroom Biryani

Mushroom Biryani is a recipe from South Indian Kitchen. It goes good with onion raitha and onion cucumber salad.

Once I ordered for Mushroom Biryani at Hotel Saravana Bhavan, Chennai (hotel that is crowded always). I just loved the aroma and taste of it. From then whenever I go to Saravana Bhavan, I started ordering this Mushroom Biryani.

This was the first time that I tried this Mushroom Biryani at home and it was good along with raitha and salad.

Do try this and let me know how it came out?

Ingredients
Basmathi Rice - 200 gms (washed, soaked in water for 20 min)
Mushroom - 200 gms (cut into 4 quarters or 6 pieces)
Onions - 3 (thinly sliced lengthwise)
Tomatoes - 3 or 4 (cut lengthwise)
Carrots - 1 (cut into medium-sized pieces)
Capsicum - 1/2 (cut into thin pieces lengthwise)
Green Chillies - 2 (slit on one side)
Ginger Garlic paste - 2 tsp
Mint Leaves - a small cup
Corriander Leaves - a small cup
Biryani Masala Powder - 4 tsp
Coconut Milk - 400 ml
Saffron food color - a pinch
Salt - to taste

To Season
Butter - 1/2 tsp
Ghee - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Cloves - 5
Bay Leaf - 1
Anistar - 1
Maratti Mokku - 1
Green Cardamom - 2
Cinnamon - 2 or 3 small strips

To Garnish
Ghee fried Cashews - 5 or 6
Carrot - few pieces (thinly cut lengthwise)
Capsicum - few pieces (thinly cut lengthwise)
Sliced Lime pieces - 2

Procedure
(1) Heat a non-stick pan and add the items given in To Season one-by-one
(2) Add the sliced onions, little salt and saute it till turns brown
(3) Add green chillies, ginger-garlic paste and saute till raw smell is off
(4) Add the tomatoes and cook till it turns soft
(5) Once it leaves out oil, add corriander and mint leaves
(6) Add all the chopped vegetables and saute for few minutes.
(7) Add the Biriyani masala powder, salt if required and saute for few minutes.
(8) Add the chopped Mushrooms & saute till masala gets well on with the vegetables and mushrooms
(9) Grease the rice cooker pan with ghee in bottom and sides
(10)Pour the coconut milk, gravy & soaked basmathi rice to the greased pan
(11)Add the food color, check for the salt and add if required
(12)Once cooking is done, the rice cooker switches its mode to keep warm
(13)After 5 minutes standing time, transfer Mushroom Biryani into a serving dish
(14)Garnish the Biryani with items given in tO Garnish
(15)Now its ready to be served with raitha and salad.