Khichdi
This is one of the simplest recipes of khichdi you can imagine. Great not just for sick people but also when you want to eat light after a heavy lunch. Skip adding ghee on top of khichri if you are calorie conscious.
Recipe of rice moong dal khichdi/ khichri
1 cup rice
1/2 cup moong dal (split, skinless green gram)
4 cups of water
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
A pinch of hing (asafoetida)
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1. Wash and soak rice and moong dal for 10 minutes. Drain.
2. Heat ghee in a pressure cooker and add cumin seeds. When they turn darker, add hing.
3. Add rice, dal, salt, both the spice powders and water. Mix and close the lid of the cooker.
4. Pressure cook to 3 whistles and let the pressure drop down naturally before opening the lid. Serve khichdi hot with ghee on top and curd/ yogurt on the side.
Tamarind rice
Tamarind rice is an Andhra delicacy. It is made most by South Indian Iyengar community. In south India, tamarind rice is known by many names like Pulihora, Puliyogare, Puliodharai and Puli Sadham. Tamarind rice or imli rice is a delicious South Indian variety of rice.
Recipe of tamarind rice/ imli rice
1 cup basmati rice
2 tbsp tamarind (imli) pulp
1/4 tsp hing (asafoetida)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
3 tsp peanuts
2 tsp dhuli urad dal (split black gram)
2 tsp chana dal (split Bengal gram)
Few curry leaves
3-4 dry red chillies
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
Salt to taste
1. Wash rice and soak for 20 minutes. Drain. Boil 5 cups of water in a pan and add rice. Cook till done. Strain in a colander and spread on a big plate. Sprinkle a little oil over rice and mix very gently.
2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a kadhai/wok. Add mustard seeds, dry red chillies, both dals. Fry till dals turn light golden.
3. Add hing, curry leaves, turmeric powder and peanuts. Fry for 1 minute taking care that dal do not burn.
4. Add tamarind pulp and salt. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Lower heat and cook covered for 5 minutes so that tamarind become dry and dal become soft.
5. Add this imli mixture in the rice and mix gently. Serve tamarind rice hot.
Tahari (tahiri)
Tahari or tahiri is a spicy vegetable pulao from Uttar Pradesh. You can also call it vegetable biryani. Tahari is usually eaten with curd or raita.
Recipe of tahari/ tahiri
1 cup rice - washed and soaked for 20 minutes
1 big onion- sliced
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2 cups chopped vegetables like cauliflower, potato, carrot, beans and green peas
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 bay leaves (tej patta)
4-5 cloves (laung)
1 big cardamom (moti elaichi)
A small stick of cinnamon
Salt to taste
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1. Heat ghee in a pressure cooker and add cumin seeds, bay leaves, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon. Let them change color.
2. Add onion and sauté till light brown. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for 1 minute.
3. Add chopped vegetables and stir fry for 1 minute.
4. Drain the soaked rice and add to the cooker. Add salt and red chilli powder. Stir fry for 1 minute.
5. Add 2 cups of water and mix everything. Pressure cook to 1 whistle. Let the pressure drop down naturally before opening the lid of the cooker. Serve hot tahiri with curd or chutney.
Coconut Rice
Coconut rice is a South Indian dish which is really fast to put together. If you have the ingredients at hand, you can prepare this flavorful rice dish any time. Coconut rice is really very tasty, try it!
Recipe of coconut rice
1 cup rice
1/2 coconut (nariyal) - grated (scraped)
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
Salt to taste
A pinch of hing (asafoetida)
2 dry red chillies
2 tsp urad dal (split black gram)
1 tbsp cashew nuts
1. Cook rice and set aside to cool.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, hing, dry red chillies, urad dal and cashew nuts.
3. When mustard seeds start spluttering, add coconut and sauté till golden brown. Add salt. Mix this with rice and serve hot coconut rice with poppadums (papads).
curd rice
Curd rice is a delicious South Indian dish which you never get tired of eating. This is a simple recipe of curd rice and makes for a quick fix meal.
Recipe of curd rice
1 cup boiled rice
1 cup curd (dahi/yogurt)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
¼ tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp chana dal
1 tsp urad dal
5-6 curry leaves
1 dry red chilli
2 green chillies- finely chopped
1 tbsp oil
Few coriander leaves- finely chopped
Salt to taste
1. Beat the curd well and add rice to it. Season it with salt. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When they pop, add chana dal. After few seconds, add urad dal, curry leaves, red chilli and green chillies. Sauté them till brown.
3. Add rice curd mixture and cook, stirring, till it starts bubbling. Turn off the heat and garnish curd rice with coriander leaves.
Ven pongal (khara pongal)
Today being Sunday, we ate heavy breakfast. By afternoon, we wanted to eat something light and easy on stomach. I made ven pongal or khara pongal for lunch. Usually ven pongal is made for breakfast but it was our lunch today. Ven pongal is a type of moong dal khichdi except that the seasoning is different.
Recipe of ven pongal/ khara pongal
1 cup rice
1/2 cup dhuli moong dal (split, skinless green gram)
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 tsp ginger paste
6-7 black peppercorns (kali mirch) - crushed coarsely
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3 1/2 cups of water
Lightly fried or toasted cashew nuts for garnish
1. Wash and soak rice and moong dal together for 10 minutes. Drain.
2. Heat ghee in a pressure cooker and add cumin seeds. When they change color, add ginger paste and crushed peppercorns. Fry for 1 minute.
3. Add rice and dal and stir fry for 1 minute.
4. Add water and salt. Pressure cook for 4-5 whistles.
5. Garnish ven pongal with fried cashew nuts and serve hot.
jeera rice
Microwave is very good for cooking rice. Earlier I blogged about cooking plain rice in microwave. I also have one blog post about jeera rice in cooker. You can check them out and compare which one is suitable for you.
As far as jeera rice is concerned, it’s very flavorful and tasty.
Recipe of microwave jeera rice/ cumin rice
1 1/2 cup basmati rice
2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter)
1. Wash rice and soak in water for 1/2 an hour. Drain.
2. Take a big microwave safe bowl. Put ghee in it and add jeera. Cook uncovered, on High for 30 seconds.
3. Add rice, salt and 3 cups of water. Mix well. Cover with a micro safe lid or a cling film through which some holes have been pierced.
4. Cook for 13 minutes on High.
5. Let it stand for 5 minutes. Serve jeera rice hot with some curry or vegetable.
Plain rice
One of the advantages of cooking rice in microwave is that rice turns out ‘khila khila’ that is, grains are separate. You can serve rice in the same container in which it was cooked, that is, if you are using micro safe glassware. You can also reheat in the same container.
Recipe of cooking plain rice in microwave
1 cup good quality rice
2 cups water
1. Wash and soak rice for about 1/2 an hour. Drain.
2. Place rice along with 2 cups water in a micro safe bowl with a lid. Cook covered in the microwave oven for 16 minutes on Power 60.
3. Turn off the microwave but let the rice stand in it for 5-10 minutes. In the meanwhile do not open the lid. Your rice is ready to be eaten with any vegetable or curry.
Tomato Rice
Tomato rice is a delicious South Indian variety of rice. It is well loved by rice eaters. Tomato rice is a quick meal which comes as a saviour when you are short of time. Enjoy it with raita and papads.
Recipe of tomato rice
1 cup basmati rice
1 onion- chopped
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
3 tomatoes- pureed
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
Few curry leaves
1 tbsp chana dal (split Bengal gram)
2 cups of water
1. Wash and soak rice for 20 minutes. Drain. Place rice in a pressure cooker with 2 cups of water and cook to 1 whistle. Let the rice cool down by spreading it in a big plate or tray.
2. Heat ghee in a kadhai/ wok. Add mustard seeds and when they pop, add chana dal. Cook on a low heat till dal turns light brown.
3. Add onion and curry leaves. Sauté till onion becomes light brown. Take care not to burn the dal.
4. Add tomato puree. Add salt, turmeric and red chilli powders.
5. Cook on low heat till tomato turns dry and ghee begins to separate.
6. Gently mix tomato to rice stirring carefully because we don’t want the rice to break. Mix till well mixed. Serve hot tomato rice with raita.
Meethe chawal
I have come across many recipes of meethe chawal but this is by far the simplest one (my mom’s recipe). This recipe is so simple that even a beginner can try his or her hands at it. I simply love it and make it in a jiffy whenever craving sets in.
Recipe of meethe chawal/ sweet rice
1 cup basmati rice (chawal)
1/2 cup sugar (vary according to taste)
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
2 cups of water
1/4 tsp elaichi (green cardamom) powder
1 1/2 tbsp chopped nuts like cashew nuts, raisins
Few strands of saffron or 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1. Wash and soak rice for 20 minutes. Drain.
2. Heat ghee in a pressure cooker and roast cashews and raisins. Drain and keep aside.
3. If you don’t have saffron to give yellow color to the chawal, roast turmeric powder in ghee for 2 seconds.
4. Add rice, sugar, 2 cups of water, cardamom powder and saffron (if you are using it) to the pressure cooker. Let 1 whistle come. Turn off the heat. Take out on a serving platter and garnish with toasted nuts. Serve meethe chawal warm.
