JEERA RICE (Cumin rice)

Jeera rice is slightly different from Jeera Pulav...this is simpler, giving predominance just to Jeera/Cumin which is so good for health, and is a friend to the stomach. We all know very well, no Indian kitchen is complete without the main seasoning ingredient....Jeera........
Once again, I am sharing a great but simple of recipe which I learnt during my earlier years in a cooking class. My teacher used to tell me, to let the aroma and flavor of Jeera remain unspoilt by the various spices like cardamom, cloves and cinnamon, and also she used to ask me to omit garlic and ginger, which have a strong flavor.
Just one  slit green chilli and a bay leaf should be the companions of Jeera in this rice.
Jeera stimulates pancreatic enzymes and aids in good digestion. That's why, people who have a problem with their digestive system, start drinking jeera water on an empty stomach in the early morning. Jeera is best for heart patients, best for diabetics, best in treating anemia, controls high cholesterol, helps weight loss, boosts up body metabolism, helps in respiratory problemhas fungal and anti microbial  properties and heals the wounds faster, removes toxins from body, and cures stomach cramps....
Here are my other rice varieties...

Ingredients

Basmati rice - 2 cups, soaked in water for 20 mts

Water - 3 1/2 cups

Salt to taste

For seasoning

Ghee - 3 tsps

Oil - 3 tsps

Jeera - 3 tsps

Bay leaf - 1

Green chilli - 1, slit

For topping

Onions , chopped and browned in 2 tsps ghee

Recipe Cuisine: North Indian; Category: Lunch / Dinner

Prep time: 5 mts; Soaking time: 20 mts; Cooking time: 15 mts

Serves 6

Onions getting browned in ghee

Remember, they should only become dark brown and not black. Keep them aside

Soaked and drained rice, cooked with measured water, in a pressure cooker, without putting the whistle and just by covering the vent with a small cup , keeping the flames at the lowest, for 30 minutes

Let to cool down a bit, fluffed with a fork

Take a broad pan, season the above mentioned ingredients

Add the fluffed up rice, salt to taste

and mix well.

Serve this simple, flavorful rice with kadai paneer or any dish of your choice.

Don't forget to strew the browned onions on top. These add to the taste.

This post first appeared in www.malpatskitchen.com

Notes

* If you are confident of cooking the rice with whistle on, please go ahead. 

* Rice grains remain separate and look so good with this measurement of water. If you want still softer grains, then please add 2 cups water  per cup of rice.

KADAI PANEER (Cottage cheese chunks in aromatic tomato gravy)

Kadai paneer is an absolute Punjabi delicacy....the source of this superb recipe is Tarla dalal. I have been following this recipe for so many years, it is a huge success always!!!
Chunks of paneer, in a simple tomato-bell pepper gravy, sans onions, with a special aromatic masala....this is the secret of this recipe...
This dish goes with chapathis as well as pulavs or rice varieties, any kind of paratha etc.
For my other side dishes for rotis, please click here.
This dish derived its name since it is made in a kadai (broad pan) and also served in kadais.
Sometimes, there is a misconception that dishes without onions will not taste good, and will lack flavor....try out this aromatic dish....and you will be convinced.....
Check out my other roti varieties here and my rice varieties here
Please check my Paneer kathi rolls, Paneer-raw banana kababs,Palak- Paneer lifafa parathas
Cabbage-paneer parathas , Grilled paneer-fresh red bean sandwich , Easy Paneer butter masala and my Paneer parathas

Ingredients

Cubed paneer pieces - 4 cups

Ginger pieces - 3 tsps

Garlic pieces - 3 t

Tomatoes - 8

Bell pepper - 2

Coriander seeds - 3 tbsps

Red chillies - 6-8

Green chillies - 2

Kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) - 4 tsps

Garam masala powder - 3 tsps

Brown sugar - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil and ghee - 4 tbsps

Coriander / cilantro leaves for garnishing

Recipe Cuisine: North Indian; Category: Lunch/ dinner

Prep time: 30 mts; Cooking time: 25 mts

Serves 6

Dry roast the red chillies and coriander seeds...and

make a coarse powder

Soak the paneer cubes in boiling hot water for 30 minutes

Heat oil and ghee in a kadai, add the green chillies along with ginger and garlic pieces. Saute well

Now add the bell pepper juliennes along with the special spicy, aromatic masala powder, we made out of coriander and red chillies

Keep the flames on the lowest, saute well, till the bell peppers become  cooked to a crunchy texture, and also take in the aroma of the special spice

Now add the finely chopped tomatoes, well crushed kasuri methi, sugar and salt

Add garam masala powder, keep on sauteeing till tomatoes become mushy

Add some water, and allow to simmer for a little while

Perfectly done!

Now, add the paneer pieces, allow to simmer well, let the soft paneer pieces take in all the special aromas of the gravy

Switch off and garnish with coriander leaves

Serve this superb Kadai paneer with soft phulkas

This post first appeared in www.malpatskitchen.com

Notes

* Check the taste, if need be, add some dhania powder (coriander powder). I had to add some.

*This is an ideal companion for jeera rice too. (recipe to follow)

MEXICAN GUMBO (Slow cooker method)

Mexican Gumbo......yet another signature recipe of my daughter...a true comfort food on these chilly nights....
Gumbo is a stew which originated from southern parts of Lousiana during 18th century . This is again a very very healthy recipe, loaded with high protein content.
My daughter made this in the slow cooker. We can make  this in pressure cooker too. I just loved the slow cooker cooking method...absolutely trouble free, no need to stand nearby and stir ..........she put everything in the crockpot / slow cooker, we roamed around here and there .........and it was ready late in the evening for dinner!!!

Ingredients

Black beans, soaked overnight - 6 cups

Red bell pepper - 1, finely chopped

Green bell pepper - 1, finely chopped

Onion - 1, finely chopped

Garlic - 6 pods, chopped

Fresh or frozen corn 3 cups

Vegetable stock or plain water to cook the black beans as required

Green chillies or jalapeno - 6 finely chopped

Chilli powder - 2 tsps

Jeera / cumin powder - 3 tsps

Crushed tortilla chips - 1 cup

Fresh cilantro/coriander leaves - 1 huge cup

Salt to taste

Sour cream, Mexican cheese and tortilla chips, as required

For the grilled veggies

Olive oil - 3 tsps

Green bell pepper - 1, cut into long strips

Onion - 1, cut into long strips

Recipe Cuisine: Mexican; Category: Lunch / Dinner

Prep time: 15 mts; Cooking time: Whole day, if it is slow-cooker method; If pressure cooker method, then 40 mts;

Serves 8-10

Black beans, soaked over night, put in the slow cooker, vegetable broth added. You can add plain water too, or make some broth by boiling whatever vegetables available at home, taking just the water and discarding the veggies

Chopped tomatoes, green chillies or jalapeno, corn, garlic, onions, green and red bell peppers, chilli powder and jeera / cumin powder added step by step

Crushed tortilla chips added to thicken the gumbo, liberal heap of fresh chopped cilantro / coriander leaves added. 

The well cooked gumbo, hand blended. Add salt to taste

Spanish rice: In a pressure pan, add 2 tsps olive oil, then saute 4-5 pods of finely chopped garlic, 1 finely chopped onion, 1 slit green chilli, 1 tsp chilli powder etc, then add 1 cup soaked and drained brown rice, add 21/2 cups of water, and cook for 3 whistles. Garnish with coriander leaves

 Make Corn Salsa , as illustrated.

The sauteed green bell peppers and onions

 Now.......all things are ready. We just have to build a gumbo bowl...

.First take a bowl place a scoop of spanish rice

then 2 scoops of gumbo (which we have cooked in the slow cooker or pressure cooker, and hand blended)

Now, the grilled veggies and corn salsa

now the sour cream

now the mexican cheese

finally, top it up with some crunchy tortilla chips

Serve the warm Mexican Gumbo...it will taste yum!!! the cool, soothing  sour cream, the tasty mexican cheese, the crunchy grilled veggies, the spicy corn salsa, and the crisp tortilla chips.....I tell you...this is a real amalgamation of various tastes!!! Satiate your hunger pangs by having a bowl of this healthy Gumbo.

This post first appeared in www.malpatskitchen.com

Notes

* If mexican cheese is not available, use any other cheese available in the market

* Sour cream can be very well whipped up in a jiffy. Whisk half a cup of store-bought thick yogurt or hung curds(if you are using home made curds)  and half a cup of fresh cream, and your sour cream is ready!!!

*Tortilla chips are , for sure, available in India.

* If you do not get black beans, no worries...use rajma and black eyed chick peas (karamani) 

DAHI PURI

Dahi Puri..............the famous chat item, which is also a Mumbai street food, is the one which soothes everybody's palates..........be it kids or be it adults, I  have not come across anyone  who does not like this...the crunchy puris, filled with the benign probiotic yogurt inside, with some spice powders,the whole  taste accentuated with the spicy and sweet chutneys.....this is really a superb snack or main meal, however you wish.....we can serve it as a starter too before a lunch or dinner.
Please see here for the green chutney and here for the  sweet chutney. If you want to make the green chutney without onions, please refer bhelpuri, wherein I have illustrated this.

Ingredients

Small puris - 36

Sev - a small packet

Green chutney, as required

Sweet chutney, as required

Potatoes - 3, cooked, peeled and chopped into tiny pieces

Soaked and cooked channa - 1 1/2 cups

Chilli powder, as needed

Roasted jeera powder - as needed

Chat masala - as needed

Thick yogurt / curds - 8 cups, whisked well with 3 tbsps sugar and salt to taste

Coriander leaves for garnishing

Recipe Cuisine: North Indian; Category: Chat item/snack/starter

Prep time: 15 mts; Cooking time: nil

Serves 6-8

Make the chutneys in advance. This makes the work easier.

Picture below shows the Green chutney, Sweet chutney, chilli powder, roasted jeera / cumin powder and the chat masala powder

Cooked channa

Cooked potato pieces

Crunchy sev

Whisked curds

First, gently tap the lighter side of the puri, make a small hole, and keep a small potato piece inside

then a couple of channas

Fill up the sweet chutney

Now, all the three spice powders mentioned above

Fill a generous amount of the sweet and salty yogurt inside

Sprinkle some crunchy sev on top

Drizzle some spicy green chutney on top

Garnish with fresh coriander / cilantro leaves

Serve these crunchy, sweet and spicy Dahi Puris as a starter, snack, for lunch or dinner, and leave your guests open mouthed!!! (this way, they can eat the dahi puris easily)!!!

This post first appeared in www.malpatskitchen.com

Notes

*We can use cooked green gram also instead of kabuli channa. Some protein added, that's all.