Its has been a long i prepared carrot rice and this time i want to prepare them something different and i went through my foodie bloggers spaces and finally Shabitha's Carrot rice tempted me a lot as she prepared as like her mom's preparation and this rice goes for a easy cooking process also its a easy breezy complete one pot meal..Thanks to Shabitha for sharing this delicious carrot rice, we enjoyed having and am gonna prepare this carrot rice often, i served this carrot rice simply with papads and egg fry..A prefect lunch box menu to enjoy anytime also its a best and better way to sneak carrots...I saw some crispy carrot vadas at Uma's Carrot Vadas which sounds particularly easy since these vadas doesnt go for soaking dals or grinding, immediately i wanted to give a try and today i prepared these crispy vadas for our lunch and enjoyed along with sambar rice..both together works out wonder and we enjoyed this crispy vadas, thanks to Uma for sharing this easy carrot vadas which gets ready in less time also gets vanished in less time...

Carrot Rice:



2cups Basmati Rice
3cups Grated carrots
2nos Onion (chopped lengthwise)
2nos Green chillies (slit opened)
handful of Mint leaves
1tbsp Ginger garlic paste
10nos Cashewnuts
1tsp Chilly powder
1/2tsp Lemon juice
2nos Whole Spices (bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamoms & cloves)
Salt
Ghee+Oil

Soak the rice in 3cups of water for 15minutes,Heat enoug ghee +oil in a pressure cooker, fry the whole spices until they turns brown, add immediately the onions, ginger garlic paste and saute well, now add the mint leaves, slit opened green chillies and salt , saute for few minutes..now add the grated carrots, red chilly powder and saute for few minutes..Sprinkle little water and allow the grated carrots to cook, once they get half cooked, strain the soaked water and add it to the cooking carrots..bring it boil..now add the rice, close the pressure cooker and cook upto 2 whistles, once the steam get released add the lemon juice and give a stir gently..

Serve hot with papads or spicy egg fry..

Carrot Vadas:



2cups Grated carrots
1+1/4cup Gram flour
1/2cup Powdered raw peanuts
1/2tsp Cumin seeds
2tbsp Grated coconut
2tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped)
1/2tsp Ginger (grated)
1no Green chilly (chopped)
A pinch of soda
Salt
Oil

Heat the oil for deepfrying, meanwhile take all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together as a dough with little water..take a small portion from the dough and shape them as vadas, drop gently to the hot oil and fry on both sides until they get well cooked..

Serve hot as side dish or enjoy as snacks with ketchup...

Our's today sunday lunch was this quick and easy breezy pulao with mixed veggies and marinated chicken chunks..Had a wonderful weekend and a lazy sunday,thats the reason i prepared this quick pulao instead of making briyanis or kurmas..This pulao needs hardly very less time and get ready very quickly when compared to briyanis or any other non vegetarian gravies, wat all we need is cooked basmati rice with coconut milk spiced with green chillies and sauteed with mixed veggies along with marinated chicken chunks..This dish doesnt even need side dish to enjoy and suits prefectly as a lunch box menu or for a party menu, we enjoyed it with carrot raita and we loved it..Sending this pulao to Akheela's Festive Rice Event..



2cups Basmati rice
2cups Mixed veggies (carrots, beans, peas, cabbage, capsicum)
1/2cup Chicken (boneless & chopped)
1tbsp Soya sauce
1/2tsp Pepper powder
1/2tsp Red chilly powder
1tsp Garam masala powder
2nos Bay leaves, cinnamon stick & cloves
1tsp Ginger (grated)
1no Onion (big & chopped)
Few coriander leaves

To Grind:
1/2cup Grated coconut
2nos Green chillies

Grind the coconut and green chillies with a cup of luke warm water and strain this spiced coconut milk (usually i go for 1+1/2cups of water for cooking basmati rice, make spiced coconut milk as 3cups by adding enough water)..keep aside..Now marinate the chopped chicken chunks with soya sauce, red chilly powder, pepper powder and salt and keep aside for half an hour..Wash and soak the basmati rice with already prepared spiced coconut milk for 15 minutes, finally cook the rice in a rice cooker...

Heat a heavy bottomed pan with enough oil, fry the bay leaves,cinnamon stick and cloves..add the chopped onions and grated ginger, sauté for few minutes..now add the marinated chicken chunks, saute for another few minutes and finally add the mixed veggies and saute everything with enough salt and garam masala until the veggies get half cooked in simmer..now add the already cooked rice and chopped coriander leaves,toss until every thing get well mixed..

Enjoy with papads or any sort of raitas..

Actually i prepared this briyani for our wedding anniversary and served along with shahi paneer, its was sitting in my draft since a week, so thought of posting today..Initially this briyani was a simple mixed vegetable briyani which i wanted to prepare simply with usual veggies like green peas, carrots, beans,cauliflower etc, but while going through my freezer, i saw a packet of lotus root sitting since a long which i bought few months back from nearby chinese store..Finally i marinated those chopped lotus roots with ginger-garlic paste, red chilly powder with salt and made this briyani..While enjoying this briyani, those crunchy and tender lotus roots tastes really amazing, delicious and none at home found out these lotus chunks, its one of the best and better way to sneak those lotus roots.. Am gonna add lotus roots without any hesitation often in our menu now in rice or making them as curries along with any sort of veggies..Sending to Akheela's Festive Rice Event..



1cup Lotus roots (chopped)
2nos Carrots (chopped)
1/4kg Beans (chopped)
2nos Potatoes (chopped)
1/2cup Green peas (frozen)
2nos Onions(chopped finely)
3nos Tomatoes (chopped)
2nos Green chillies (slit opened)
2tsp Ginger garlic paste
1/2tsp Turmeric powder
1tsp Chilly powder
2tsp Coriander powder
1tsp Garam masala
Salt
2cups Basmati rice
1cup Coconut milk
2nos Whole spices (bay leaves,cloves, cinnamon stick, cardamoms)
1/4cup Mint leaves (chopped)
2tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped)
Salt
Oil+1tbsp Ghee
1tbsp Lemon juice

Marinate the chopped lotus roots with a teaspoon of ginger garlic paste, red chilly powder and salt..let them sit for an hour..meanwhile soak the rice for 15minutes, drain completely the water...heat few drops of oil and roast the rice until they get a shiny texture, keep aside and let them cool..

Now heat a heavy bottomed vessel with enough oil and ghee, fry the whole spices until they turns golden brown,add immediately the chopped onions,ginger garlic paste and saute until the onions turns transculent, add the slit opened green chillies,marinated lotus roots and tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes turns mushy..Add the chopped carrots, chopped beans and saute until the veggies gets half cooked..now add the green peas and potatoes cook everything along with chilly powder, turmeric powder,garam masala,salt,coriander powder, mint leaves for few minutes...Add a cup of coconut milk with 2cups of water to the veggies, bring everything to boil, once its starts boiling well, add the basmati rice, check for salt, keep the lid closed and cook for 5 minutes in high flame, finally put the flame in simmer, cook until the rice get well cooked..Finally add the coriander leaves and lemon juice, give a stir..

Serve with any sort of raitas..

Our long date Turkish friend prepared this rice and lentils pilaf when she invited us quite a long back to her home..I loved this simple, delicious pilaf when she served along with their style of lamb meat stew...As most of us know that am in full swing to try and taste Turkish cuisine, i prepared this pilaf as per my friend's instructions, yeah i called her before preparing this pilaf to make sure myself that this pilaf doesnt go of any special spices or herbs..This pilaf goes simply for either green lentils or brown lentils (horsegram) sauteed with chopped onions in olive oil and cooked along with white rice,pepper powder and salt..Very quick pilaf to enjoy anytime with any sort of side dish..Sending this pilaf to AWED-Turkey guest hosted by Janet, event by DK..



2cups Rice
3/4cup Brown lentils
1no Onion (chopped finely)
3tbsp Olive oil
4cups Water
Salt
Pepper powder

Cook the lentils with enough water and salt until they get cooked...dont overcook them and keep aside...Heat the olive oil in a large vessel, saute the chopped onions until they turns transculent, now add the rice and saute for few minutes..add the water,pepper powder and salt to the rice..bring everything to boil and cook in simmer until the rice get cooked, now add the cooked lentils to the cooking rice, cook for few minutes..Put off the stove...Close the vessel with a lid and let the rice sit for atleast 10minutes before serving..

Serve warm with any stew..

I love making pulaos through microwave oven since it doesnt take our time if we are busy..I prepared this tomato and babycorn pulao sterday for ur lunch and served this droolworthy rice with spicy potato fry..Both together tastes fantastic and turned out our lunch superb..This pulao goes for simple ingredients and gets ready prefectly within less than an hour and this pulao tastes marvellous served even along with papads or with hard boiled eggs...Even a bachelor can prepare this pulao easily using microwave oven..Simple and easy pulao which suits prefectly also for lunch box menu as well as for a potluck party thats y am sending this delicious pulao to Srivalli's MEC-Potluck Party and again to her 365Days of Microwave Cooking and also sending to Healing Foods-Tomato guest hosted by PJ, event by Siri..



2cups Basmati rice
1cup Babycorn (slices as small bites)
2cups Coconut milk
1cup Water
1no Onion (big & chopped finely)
3nos Tomatoes (big & juicy)
1tsp Ginger garlic paste
2nos Green chillies (slit opened)
1/2tsp Red chilly powder
1/2tsp Garam masala powder
1tsp Fennel seed powder
2nos Bayleaves, cloves, cardamom seeds & cinnamon stick
Salt
2tbsp Oil+ghee
Few coriander leaves

Wash and soak the basmati rice for 15 minutes and strain the rice, keep aside..Heat the oil and ghee in a microwave safe bowl for 2minutes in high in a microwave oven..Add the bayleaves, cloves, cardamom seeds and cinnamon stick and cook in high for 5minutes, add immediately the finely chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, slit opened green chillies and fennel seed powder, cook everything for 10minutes (stir in between) until the veggies get cooked and raw smells goes away..now add the red chilly powder, garam masala powder, chopped babycorn pieces and salt, cook everything again for 10minutes in high (stir twice)..now add the coconut milk and water, cook for 10minutes in high (stir in between)..

Finally add the soaked basmati rice, cook now for 20minutes in high in microwave oven (stir twice in between) until the rice gets well cooked..Enjoy this delicious pulao with papads, spicy potato fry or else with boiled eggs..

Whenever i feel like lazy, i always goes for one pot meal like simple fried rice or simple pulao with veggies..Even yesterday while planning for something simple and easy rice dish for our lunch, i prepared this delicious channa and bellpepper pulao since i have some already cooked chickpeas sitting in my fridge with green bellpeppers chunks..This pulao is really very quick, a prefect lunch box menu dish, which goes awesome along with potato chips or boiled eggs..I served this delectable pulao with simple onion raita and potato chips for our lunch..Sending this pulao to Lubna's Joy from Fasting to Feasting and to CWF-LB-Chickpeas guest hosted by Nithu, event by Kiran and to Neha's Kid's Menu...



1cup Cooked channa
1no Bellpepper (chopped )
1no Onion( chopped)
2nos Tomatoes (chopped)
1tsp Ginger garlic paste
1tsp Red chilly powder
1/2tsp Cumin powder
1/4tsp Turmeric powder
1/2tsp Pepper powder
1/2tsp Garam masala powder
2cups Cooked Rice
2nos Whole spices (bayleaves, cloves, cinnamon stick)
Salt
Oil
Coriander leaves (chopped)

Heat enough oil and add the bayleaves, cloves, cinnamon stick, fry until they turns brown..add the chopped onion pieces, ginger garlic paste,chopped tomato pieces and cook until the raw smell goes away...add immediately the cooked channas with red chilly powder, garam masala powder,turmeric powder, cumin powder, pepper powder , curryleaves and salt and cook everything in simmer until the oil get separates, finally add the chopped bellpepper chunks,chopped coriander leaves and saute for few minutes...

Now add the already cooked rice to the cooking channa and bellpepper masala and toss gently until everything get well mixed..

Yesterday i got a bag of tender french beans from farmer's market, usually i prepare them as stir fries or simple as steamed cooked beans..Its has been a long i prepared one pot meal and i tried this sweet corn,beans and soya chunks combination for making out an easy breezy rice and served along with papads and boiled eggs..We enjoyed having this fabulous rice for our lunch and even my H loved it who hardly love corn and soya chunks in his food..With simple ingredients, this rice tastes too awesome also its suits prefect as a lunch box menu and am damn sure that even kids will love this droolworthy rice..Sending this delectable rice to A Veggie/Fruit For A Month-Corn guest hosted by Akheela, event by Priya and to Umm's Iftar Moments..



1/2cup Sweet corn
2cups Cooked rice
1/2cup Green beans (chopped)
1/4cup Soya chunks
1no Onion (big & chopped)
1tsp Garam masala powder
2nos Green chillies (slit opened)
1/2tsp Pepper powder
2tbsp Soya sauce
2tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped)
Salt
Oil
3nos Bay leaves
1/2tsp Cumin seeds

Cook the soya chunks in hot water with salt until they double their volume, drain the water and squeeze out the excess of water, keep aside..

Heat enough oil, fry the bay leaves and cumin seeds, add immediately the chopped onions, saute until they turns transculent, add the chopped beans,sweet corn and soya chunks to the onions, saute everything for few minutes, now add the garam masala powder, pepper powder,slit opened green chillies and soya sauce, cook everything in high flame until the veggies get half cooked..

Add the cooked rice and chopped coriander leaves to the veggies, toss everything gently until the veggies and rice get well mixed.. Serve hot with papads and boiled eggs..

After a long hesitation, this weekend i soaked black channa for making some sprouts...Successfully i sprouted half a kg of kala channa beans and pressure cooked for making some curries..After enjoying delicious channa masala with those sprouted kala channa, finally i prepared this simple, delicious and easy breezy rice for our today's lunch..This healthy rice need very less time to get ready but its really very nutritious as well as delicious goes prefectly for lunch box menu..Kasuri methi in this sprouted channa rice turned out this rice more prefect and none will find out the presence of kasuri methi in this rice until u reveal the secret ingredient..Best and better way to add bitterness to our daily menu as they are very healthy for our health..Am damn sure this healthy rice gonna be a keeper and am gonna prepare this sort of rice with some variations often, finally i got some better way to finish my huge bottle of kasuri methi sitting since a long in my pantry..



1cup Sprouted kala channa (pressure cooked)
2cups Cooked basmati rice
3tbsp Kasuri methi
1no Onion (chopped)
3nos Green chillies (slit opened)
1tsp Ginger garlic paste
1tsp Garam masala powder
1/2tsp Pepper powder
1/2tsp Cumin powder
1/4tsp Turmeric powder
2nos Whole spices (Bay leaves, cloves and cinnamon sticks)
Salt
Oil
Few curry leaves

Heat enough oil, fry the whole spices until they turns brown, add the chopped onions, ginger garlic paste and saute until the onions turns transculent and the raw smell goes away..now add the pressure cooked sprouted kala channa,slit opened green chillies and curry leaves, saute for few minutes..finally add the garam masala powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder, kasuri methi and cumin powder with salt, fry for few minutes, add a half cup of water bring everything to boil and cook until the water gets evaporates..

Now add the cooked rice to the cooking veggies, toss everything gently until the rice get well mixed...Enjoy this delicious rice with papads or boiled eggs...

Briyanis are quite famous and most popular dishes in Hyderabad..Personally i felt this chicken briyani is one of the best and most delicious, fantastic dish which is prepared by cooking the meat and rice in an air tightened pot on very low flame so that the rice is cooked along with the spiced marinated meat and the rice gets the aroma of the meat as the meat get cooked directly from the heat of the flame and rice is cooked with steam coz of the dum cooking, its a length process but its really worth to try of out this droolworthy dish..U have many choice to make out this briyani either by cooking marinated meats or with marinated raw meats...This briyani is cooked in layers by alternating the meats and half cooked rice,finally the meat and rice get cooked well in simmer flame..I used chicken for making out this briyani, which i marinated with spices and arranged them in fridge overnite, the next day i cooked the rice until they get half cooked along with spices..Also i prepared by cooking chicken for making briyani by sauting them with onions until the chicken pieces get half cooked..Finally i arranged the cooked rice over the sauteed spiced chicken pieces and cooked until they get completely well cooked by sealing the vessel with wet kitchen towel...Enjoy this delicious briyani with simple raita and boiled eggs..This is our sunday's special briyani, we loved it..Also its one of my father's favourite who introduced us to this famous hyderabadi briyani for the first time at home...



For Marination:
1kg Chicken (cut into large pieces)
1/2cup Yogurt
2tbsp Ginger garlic paste
2tsp Chilly powder
2tsp Coriander powder
5nos Green chillies (slit opened)
1cup Mint leaves (chopped)
1/2cup Coriander leaves (chopped)
1/2tsp Turmeric powder
1tbsp Lemon juice
2tsp Garam masala powder
1tsp Shah jeera
1/2tsp Cumin powder
Salt

Fried Onions:
2nos Onions(big & sliced)
Oil

For Rice:
4cups Basmati rice (soaked for 15 minutes)
3nos Cardamoms
2nos Cloves
2nos Bay leaves
2nos Cinnamon sticks
Salt
1/2tsp Saffron strands
1/2cup Milk

For briyani topping:
Fried onions
Oil
Mint leaves (chopped)

Deep fry the sliced onions until they turns golden brown and keep aside..Clean the chicken pieces, squeeze out the water and add all the ingredients given in the list for marinade along with some fried onions and sit in fridge for overnite..

Bring boil enough water along with all spices given for making out rice, add the rice and continue to cook until the rice get half cooked..drain the water and keep aside the rice..Heat enough oil in a heavy bottomed vessel, add the marinated chicken pieces and cook until the rice get half cooked, meanwhile soak the saffron strands in warm milk...now arrange the already cooked rice over the cooking rice, springle fried onions, saffron soaked milk, mint leaves and springle some oil over the rice..Close the vessel with a lid,seal the lid with wet cloth completely..Cook for 10 minutes in medium high flame and for 15minutes in simmer..Let it sit for few minutes before opening the vessel..

Give a stir before serving and serve the briyani hot with raita or boiled eggs..

I love to make simple rice or pulao with sprouted beans, recently i sprouted a packet of green moong beans, with these sprouted moong beans i prepared many dishes and finally some leftover beans were sitting in my fridge and i wanted to finish them quickly as something delicious, quick and easy...Finally i went for this simple pulao with simple ingredients and curd instead of using coconut milk or fresh grated coconut for making a grounded masala to prepare this pulao, u doesnt need anything special to make out this delicious and nutritious pulao as they go for quick preparation..Best way to sneak these protein packed whole moong beans and we enjoyed having with simple onion raita...U can store this beautiful and healthy sprouts pulao in a ziplock bag and freeze them, this pulao will stay intact for more than three weeks and get ready within few minutes if they warmed through microwave oven..



2cups Basmati rice
2cups Mixed Veggies (carrots, green peas, cauliflowers, french beans)
1cup Sprouted green moongbeans
1no Onion (big & chopped)
2nos Tomatoes (chopped)
2nos Green chillies (slit opened)
1tsp Cumin seed powder
1/2tsp Fennel seed powder
1tsp Coriander powder
1/2tsp Red chilly powder
1/2tsp Pepper powder
1tsp Garam masala powder
1tbsp Ginger garlic paste
2cups Yogurt
2cups Water
Few mint leaves (chopped)
2nos Whole spices (bayleaves, cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom)
Oil
Salt

Heat enough oil in a pressure cooker,fry the whole spices until they turns brown, meanwhile wash and soak the basmati rice for 5minutes..drain the excess of water, keep aside..now add the chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, slit opened green chillies to the pressure cooker, saute until the onions turns transculent and the raw smell goes away, now add the sprouted moong beans along with salt, cook in simmer with lid closed for few minutes until they turns bit soft, add now the veggies along with pepper powder, cumin seed powder, fennel seed powder, red chilly powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, saute everything until the veggies get half cooked...meanwhile heat few drops of oil, roast the soaked rice until they get a shiny texture..

Mix the yogurt with water, add them to the cooking veggies...bring everything to boil, add immediately the rice,stir everything, close the pressure cooker with the lid, put the weight..cook in simmer for 10minutes, put off the stove..Once the pressure get released, add the chopped mint leaves, toss gently and serve immediately..

Enjoy with any sort of raita eventhough my choice goes definitely for onion raita..

My mom used to make egg rice to my sister almost twice a week atleast while she was doing her schooling, she used to go through her school bus, her school is one of the famouse girl's school in Pondicherry and its an obligation for my mom to cook twice a day, yea early morning she makes delicious lunch box dishes for my sister and then later she prepare our lunch, all her lunch box dishes makes me hungry and i wait eagerly to taste some of those leftover dishes...I always fond for one pot meal and i often make my mom's egg rice, this time when i was preparing a birthday party for my daughter i planned to make out some mild spicy dishes as all her classmates doesnt eat that much spicy dishes, immediately my mom's egg rice came to my mind since its goes for just chopped green chillies or either pepper powder, for a change i prepared this rice by preparing a big omelette in a pan and cut them as cubes, finally i added them along with mildly spiced masala rice ..My daughter's friends enjoyed having this rice, a huge bowl of this rice vanished within few minutes...



5nos Eggs
2nos Onions(chopped)
2nos Green chillies (chopped)
3cups Cooked rice
1/2tsp Pepper powder
2nos Bay leaves
1tsp Cumin seeds
1/4tsp Cumin seed powder
1tsp Garam masala powder
Salt
Oil
Few sping onions (chopped)
Few mint leaves (chopped)

Beat the eggs with pepper powder and salt, keep aside..make a huge omelette by heating with few drops of oil in a pan,keep aside and cut them as cubes ...Heat few drops of oil, fry the bayleaves, cumin seeds..add immediately the onions,chopped green chillies,saute for few minutes...add now cumin seed powder, garam masala powder and salt..saute until the raw smells goes away, now add the cooked rice and cubed egg pieces..Toss everything gently until everything get well mixed, cook everything in simmer for few minutes, finally add the chopped spring onions, chopped mint leaves , give a stir..

Serve warm without any side dish!!

Just few days back, while i was uploading my recipe index, i saw that i didnt post my usual way of making out briyanis with chicken, dunno how i missed our family's favourite, the most favourite sunday special dish...So i prepared today and clicked some pictures, atlast my chicken briyani gonna be posted in my space...Learned this chicken briyani from my mom, whenever i make them at home, everyone will be excited and will wait eagerly to be served..My most favourite dish which is also my dad's favourite, he love to have this briyani with onion raita, boiled eggs and brinjal masala, my mom makes excellent brinjal masala almost every sunday whenever she makes this briyani, we love it...This delicious briyani is quite a feast for non vegetarians especially chicken lovers..Yummyilicious briyani prepared with marinated chicken and cooked with spicy masala paste prepared with shallots, green chillies, whole spices finally with coconut milk..Happy Father's Day to all the father..Voila am dedicating this chicken briyani to my wonderful father who is an inspiration for me and my siblings..



2cups Basmati rice
3cups Coconut milk
1/2kg Chicken (chopped as medium size pieces)
2nos Onions (chopped lengthwise)
3nos Tomatoes (big & chopped finely)
1tsp Ginger-garlic paste
Few pinch Orange food colour
2nos Whole spices (bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon stick, cardamom)
1cup Mint leaves (chopped)
Oil
Salt

For marination:
1cup Yogurt
1/2tsp Red chilly powder
1/2tsp Ginger garlic paste
1/4tsp Turmeric powder
Salt

For masala paste:
15nos Shallots
3nos Green chillies
1tsp Fennel seeds
1tsp Garam masala powder
1tsp Coriander seeds

Marinate the chicken pieces with ginger garlic paste, red chilly powder, turmeric powder, salt and yogurt and let them sit for an hour..meanwhile grind all the ingredients given in the list 'for masala paste' with enough water as thick paste...Soak the rice for 15 minutes, drain the water..fry the rice with a some oil until they get a shiny texture, keep aside..

Heat enough oil in a heavy bottomed vessel, add the ghee and oil, fry the whole spices until brown, now add the chopped onions, chopped tomatoes and ginger garlic paste with salt, saute until the raw smell goes away..now add the grounded masala paste,chopped mint leaves,orange food colour and marinated chicken pieces, saute for few minutes...now add the coconut milk, bring everything to boil...Now add the already prepared rice, cook in medium flame for few minutes and put the flame in simmer,close the vessel with a lid ,cook until the rice gets well cooked..

Onion N Carrot Raita:
1cup Carrot (grated)
1/2cup Onions (sliced thinly)
1cup Yogurt
Salt
Few coriander leaves (chopped)

Take the grated carrots, sliced onions, salt, coriander leaves in a bowl, add the yogurt ,mix everything well and serve along with briyani..

Summer vacation is approaching really faster, we will be leaving for few days to South France to enjoy the hot sun,am so happy that i'll be leaving soon for 15days of relax, no cooking and washing etc during those days..We guys are very much excited and i terribly need some vacation....I saw recently at Kiran's Mint & Cilantro Stalks Pulao, i got hooked to this beautiful dish, where she used the mint and coriander stalks instead of their leaves, truly unique na..Sometimes i wont throw the coriander leaves and i used make dals or i'll add while grinding masala for kurmas, but never used mint stalks while cooking, i really want to give a try to her pulao with stalks..Instead of making just simply with rice and grounded masala with stalks, i cooked few soya chunks and used some butter beans to give more taste to my pulao, thanks to Kiran for sharing this beautiful pulao, we guys enjoyed a lot with raita for our sterday lunch..

I really love to cook and taste different cuisine around the world...This time my culinary experiments goes for Burmese cuisine, after going through many recipes and sites i have choosed few easy breezy recipes to try out..While going through those recipes, i found that most of Burmese dishes ressembles quite like our Indian dishes..Coming to this butter and lentil rice, this dish is really very easy to prepare, this rice goes for simple ingredients and the bay leaves, cinnamon stick used in this rice turned them out more flavourful ..This rice is a fabulous alternative dish to plain rice.. Its seems Burmese people enjoy this rice either with some dried shrimp relish or with crispy onions or else with rich meat curries..We had this rice simply with potato kurma and enjoyed a lot..



2cups Basmati rice
1/4cup Channa dal (soaked for 4 hours)
2tbsp Butter
1tsp Sugar
Salt
4nos Bay leaves
2nos Cinnamon stick
4cups Water

Wash the soaked channadal and drain well..In a pan, add the rice , channadal, butter, sugar, salt, bay leaves, cinnamon stick and water, cover the saucepan and bring to boil, keep an eye while cooking and stir occasionally..

Put the flame in simmer and cook until the water get absorbed and the rice and dal get cooked..let them aside..serve hot with any sort curries..

Weekend is going very pleasant here, yesterday its was quite hot while today its rainy and the climate is just like as we have in Ooty or Kodaikanal, so i was bit lazy to make out non vegetarian dishes today and went for this easy breezy pepper rice i used to prepare often with many variations, sometimes i'll prepare this simple pepper rice with chicken chunks, shrimps or with eggs, this time i prepared simply with veggies ,soyasauce and spiced this rice with freshly grounded pepper powder, a prefect lunch box menu which goes awesome with boiled eggs or simply with chips, my mom used to prepare this simple and delicious pepper rice for my sister which she used to carry along with her when she was doing her schooling as her school was quite far from our home..While preparing this pepper rice, my mom used to reserve few for me and my brother and we have this peppered rice once we come home for our lunch, they stay always tasty even if she prepare earlier in the morning..



2cups Cooked rice
1cup Mixed veggies
2tbsp Soya Sauce (light)
1tsp Pepper powder (freshly grounded)
1/2cup Chopped Spring onions (white & green)
Oil
Salt

Heat enough oil and saute the white part of the spring onions, until they turns transculent, add immediately the veggies and salt, cook until the veggies turned half cooked..now add the soya sauce and cook the veggies in high flame, add immediately the rice and pepper powder toss everything gently until everything get well mixed, finally add the chopped green spring onions and serve immediately with eggs or papads..

Most of our sunday's goes for special menu, today we guys are celebrating Mother's Day here, no doubt the day started very special today with a raspberry& oats smoothie prepared by my DH,bread toast with jam prepared by my princess as breakfast, both surprised me by waking me with these beautiful breakfast menu..No words to express how happy i am today, so i planned today to give an enormous treat to my sweet family by making out our favourite Chettinad Mutton Briyani, which i usually prepare in a kadai and finish by putting them in dum (in oven)..This time i wanted them to prepare in pressure cooker since they need very less time and the briyani will get ready in few minutes served along with cucumber and watermelon raita,this briyani tastes marvellous and we loved it..I went through Solai Aunty's  Chettinad Mutton Briyani and i prepared exactly the same way she prepared her briyani..Thanks Aunty for this beautiful dish..



1/2kg Mutton pieces
1tbsp Chilly powder
1tsp Turmeric powder
1tsp Ginger garlic paste
Curry leaves
3cups Basmati rice
1cup Thick curd
2nos Onions(chopped finely)
3nos Tomatoes(chopped)
1tsp Fennel seeds
2nos Whole Spices (bay leaves, cloves, cardamoms, cinnamonstick)
Mint +Coriander leaves (chopped)

To Grind:
3nos Dry red chillies
4nos Green chillies
15nos Shallots
1tsp Fennel seeds
5nos Cloves
3no Cardamom
2nos Cinnamon stick
1inch Ginger pieces
15nos Garlic
1/2cup Mint leaves

Heat a tsp of oil in a pressure cooked, fry the ginger garlic paste for few minutes, add immediately the mutton pieces saute for few minutes, add the chilly powder and turmeric powder, mix well and add salt and enough water to the sauteed mutton pieces, pressure cook for three whistles..Wash thoroughly the basmati rice, drain the excess of water, heat a kadai with ghee, fry the basmati rice in simmer until the rice turns shiny..keep aside

Meanwhile grind all the ingredients given in the list 'to grind' as fine paste..keep aside..Once the pressure get released, strain the mutton pieces and keep the mutton cooked water aside..Now heat a big pressure cooked with enough oil+ghee, fry the whole spices,fennel seeds until brown, add immediately the chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, saute for few minutes, now add the grounded masala,salt and saute until the raw smells goes away..add the mutton pieces,chopped mint and coriander leaves and cook everything well in simmer..

Measure the already cooked mutton water along with thick curd to make 4+1/2cups..pour this cooked mutton water-curd mixture to the cooking masala, bring this to boil..add the already prepared rice now to the boiling masala..close the cooker, once the pressure comes put the weight, keep the stove in low flame and cook for 10minutes (dont wait for the whistle)..Switch of the stove..once the pressure get released, mix gently and garnish with coriander leaves..

Serve hot with any raitas!!

Our sunday special goes for this green mint pulao cooked along with prawns..We love seafoods, been born and brought up in seashore city my favourite seafood always goes to prawns, i love to add some prawns even while cooking some veggies stir fries, but nowadays am trying to control myself to add prawns in my stir fries and trying to add oats to make them more healthier..Coming to this delicious, spicy  seafood pulao goes for simple ingredients , its get ready within few minutes.. While cooking the aroma of this pulao itself tempts and makes everyone hungry, this pulao is one of our family favourite which i usually prepare simply with tomatoes but this time since i had a bunch of mint leaves i prepared them as mint flavoured prawn pulao, i served this delicious pulao along with simple cucumber raita and everyone at home enjoyed it much..



1/4kg Prawns (cleaned)
2cups Basmati rice
2nos Onion (chopped)
3cups Coconut milk
2nos Whole spices (bayleaves, cloves, cinnamon stick & cardamom)
1/4tsp Turmeric powder
1tsp Garam masala powder
Salt
Oil

To Grind:
1cup Mint leaves
5nos Garlic cloves
1inch Ginger (chopped)
3tbsp Grated coconut
5nos Green chillies

Soak rice for 15 minutes,drain the water and keep the rice in a colander, meanwhile grind all the ingredients given in the list 'To Grind' with enough water as fine paste...Heat enough oil in the pressure cooker and fry the whole spices, add the onions saute until they turns transculent, now add the ground masala,turmeric powder, garam masala powder and fry until the raw smell goes away..


Add the prawns saute everything for few minutes...finally add the coconut milk and bring to boil..add the rice and salt and cook everything in pressure cooker with lid closed, cook in simmer for few minutes until the rice get well cooked....

Serve hot with any raitas...

Hope all of u had a beautiful weekend, mine went really very fast, i cant even able to sit properly in front of the system..This weekend was purchasing,shopping and outing eventhough we had a chilled climate..I prepared this simple but yet a delicious pulao sterday for our sunday's lunch along with fried chicken gravy, a delicious dish prepared many times by my mom, a small tribute to my awesome mom..This Coriander and cashew pulao along with chicken gravy goes awesome and turned out ur lunch super delicious, we guys had a great lunch sterday...Coming to this pulao,its takes really very less time to cook and i prepared completely in pressure cooker, which helps to prepare this pulao surely very quick and tasty...



2cups Basmati Rice
25nos/1cup Cashew nuts
2nos Onions (chopped lengthwise)
3cups Coconut milk
2nos Whole spices (bayleaves, cloves, cinnamon stick & cardamom)
Salt
Oil

To Grind:
1cup Coriander leaves
5nos Garlic
1inch Ginger
3tbsp Grated coconut
1tsp Cumin seeds
1/2tsp Fennel seed
3nos Red chillies
3nos Green chillies
1/2tsp Garam masala powder

Soak rice for 15 minutes,drain the water and keep the rice in a colander, meanwhile grind all the ingredients given in the list 'To Grind' as fine paste...Heat enough oil in the pressure cooker and fry the whole spices,add the cashews and fry until they turns golden brown, immediately add the onions saute until they turns transculent, now add the ground masala and fry until the raw smell goes away..

Finally add the coconut milk and bring to boil..add the rice and salt and cook everything in pressure cooker with lid closed, cook in simmer for few minutes until the rice get well cooked....

Serve hot with any raitas...

Our almost sunday special's goes to Biriyani, today i prepared this madras aka chennai style mutton briyani after a long..Biriyani are always been a festive dish especially on sundays...This madras mutton briyani goes for usual way of making of briyani, but this dish goes for a spicy paste prepared with green chillies, ginger garlic paste, poppy seeds, coriander leaves and onions..This spicy paste is very important for making this Madras style mutton briyani..The ingredients list for making out this briyani goes for a long list eventhough this dish is quite similar and easy as like our usual briyanis..For vegetarian version of this briyani, u can go for mixed veggies or for soya chunks both together works out wonder too.


1kg Mutton pieces
1/2tsp Turmeric powder
4cups Basmati rice
3nos Onions(chopped lengthwise)
3nos Tomatoes (chopped finely)
2nos Green chillies (slit opened)
1tsp Red chilly powder
1tsp Coriander powder
2cups Curd
4cups Water
1cup Mint leaves (chopped)
4tbsp Ghee
Salt
Oil
2nos Bay leaves
5nos Cloves
2no Cinnamon stick
3nos Cardamom

Spice paste:
3nos Green chillies
2tbsp Ginger garlic paste
1tsp Poppy seeds (soaked in warm water)
1/4cup Coriander leaves (chopped)
1no Onion (chopped)

Masala Powder:
1no Star anise
1inch Cinnamon stick
5nos Cloves
4nos Cardamoms

Wash the mutton and pressure cook for 3whistles with turmeric powder, salt and 2cups of water...Once the pressure released, drain the water from the mutton and keep aside..meanwhile soak the rice for 15 minutes,drain the water..fry the rice with 2tbsp of ghee in a kadai..Grind the ingredients given in the list for masala powder as fine powder and grind the ingredients given for spice paste as thick paste and keep aside..

Heat enough oil in a heavy bottom vessel, fry the bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon stick and cardamom seeds, add in the onions and fry till they turns transculent, add the grounded spice paste and fry till the oil separates..now add the chopped tomatoes and slit opened green chillies..saute until the tomatoes turn mushy..Now add the cooked mutton,masala powder, chilly powder, coriander powder and salt..fry everything well until the oil get separates.

Add the curd,2cups of water and the leftover 2cups of cooked mutton water to the vessel..close the lid, bring it to boil on high flame..once the water startes boiling reduce the flame to low and put in the rice and chopped mint leaves, close the lid and let the rice cook..

Open the lid after 5minutes and drizzle the remaining the ghee over the top and close again the lid..Once the rice get cooked put off the stove..

Serve this delicious Madras mutton briyani with onion raita...

Personally i felt to combine legumes with veggies to make out some pulao..Its fun to prepare this combination and also they are quite like one pot meal which suits prefectly for a lunch box menu..This pulao tastes quite similar like vaangibath with sauteed eggplants chunks, rajma along with ginger garlic paste and a masala paste prepared with coriander seeds, red dry chillies,cumin seeds, grated coconut, cardamom seeds and cinnamon stick..Easy to prepare this pulao goes awesome along with fried papads or simple potato roast, we enjoyed having this delicious rajma and eggplant pulao for our today's lunch with fried papads and hard boiled eggs..Am sending this  rajma and eggplant pulao to Anita's Vegetable Marathon Event-Beans,my event CWS-Cardamom...


2cups Basmati rice
3cups Coconut milk
1cup Rajma (cooked)
2cups Eggplants (chopped as small cubes)
1no Onion (chopped lengthwise)
1no Tomato (big & chopped)
2nos Green chillies (slit opened)
1tsp Ginger garlic paste
2nos Bayleaves, cloves, cinnamon stick, cardamoms
Curry leaves
Salt
Oil

To Grind:
2tsp Coriander seeds
1tsp Cumin seeds
6nos Dry red chillies
1no Cardamom seeds
1inch Cinnamon stick
1no Cloves
3tsps Grated coconut

Fry all the ingredients given in the list 'to grind' one by one with few drops of oil until they turns golden brown, grind as fine masala powder and keep aside..Meanwhile wash the basmati rice,soak for 15minutes and cook along with coconut milk  in a rice cooker,once the rice get cooked, keep aside and let them cool..

Heat enough oil, fry the bayleaves, cinnamon stick,cloves and cardamoms and add the chopped onions and chopped tomatoes,slit opened green chillies and saute until the veggies get half cooked, add the ginger garlic paste and saute until the veggies get completely cooked, now add the chopped eggplant pieces..cook until the eggplants turns mushy..finally add cooked rajma,curry leaves,salt and the grounded spice powder as per need..cook everything in simmer with lid closed until the oil get separates...finally add the already cooked basmati rice and toss gently everything get well mixed...

Serve hot with fried papads or simple potato roast..