Potato Rice

I heard that this month JFI Ingredient is Potato, I decided to cook something with that and post for JFI event. Since I am first time in this event ,I was so excited and had thought of many dishes like potato masala ,cutlet etc and ended up on Potato Rice.

Potatoes are best known for their carbohydrate content and is a rich source of potassium, iron, and vitamins C, and B1. This is the only vegetable that my kids love to have without any hassle.To include all the vegetables in their diet ,daily I sneak one other vegetable inside the mashed potatoes.Because of this reason potato is so dear to me..

I got original recipe from Friday Magazine .But this particular recipe I did it in a bit more kerala style. After cooking the aroma from the dish made me to change the name to Potato Biriyani !

Here is my recipe for potato rice and an entry for Jhiva for Ingredient –Potato event hosted by Vaishali of Happy Burp.

More Recipes ...
Potato Rice(Paati)
Dill-potato Rice(Annita)


Ingredients

Potato-3 medium sized peeled and cut into small pieces
Basmati Rice-2 cups
Grated Coconut-1/2 cup
Ginger-1inch piece
Green chili-2 large
Curry leaves-2 sprigs
Mustard seed-1tsp
Cumin seed -1tsp
Bay leaves-3 whole
Aniseed-1/4 tsp
Cardamom-4 pods
Cinnamon-2 small sticks
Finely chopped Coriander leaves-1/2 cup
Lemon juice-1/2 lemon
Water-3 cups
Salt to taste.

Method

Wash and soak rice in water for 30 minutes.Grind coarsely coconut ,Ginger and green chili and keep aside,
Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan add mustard and cumin seeds.,once it starts popping add bay leaves and curry leaves,and all other spices and saute for a minute.then add half of coriander leaves ,stir well.
In a separate pot heat water along with salt.Bring it to boiling point.
Add potato and rice and mix well then add the boiling water stir well and close the pan with lid and allow to cook the rice in a low flame.
Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve this rice with plain curd or raita, pickle and pappad.

Note:
For yellow colour you can add a pinch of turmeric powder.
To make a better taste add cashew and raisins roasted in ghee.

Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji Mumbai’s street food is popular among Indians.It can set anybody’s taste buds tingling.I tried this Pav Bhaji several times in my house and became one of our favourite dinner items.Moreover it is good choice during lending and also good for our health.

Pav is actually the square shaped soft bun .Plain bread loaves,dinner rolls or bun can be substituted,Bhaji is the vegetable cooked with spice. More about PavBhaji!

Ingredients

Bhaji

Vegetable oil- 2tbsp
Finely chopped capsicum - 1medium size
Finely chopped onion - 3 medium size
Tomato pureed- 2 medium size
Ginger,Garlic Finely chopped- 1tbsp
Lemon juice - 1/2 lemon
Potato - 1large
Carrot - 1large
Cauliflower- 1cup
French Beans- 1/2 cup
Green Peas- 1 cup
Chili powder- 1 tsp(For extra hotness add more)
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
PavBhaji Masala- 3tsp(I used Mother’s recipe)
Sugar- 2tsp(optional)
Salt to taste

To Garnish

Coriander chopped- 1/2 cup
Onion chopped - 1 medium sized
Lemon cut into small pieces- 1
Butter small cubes(optional)

Method

Cook all the vegetables in less water, till well done and mashed them coarsely and keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan.saute ginger,garlic till brown.Add onion,capsicum and tomatoes fry until it becomes soft .
Add PavBhaji masala,Chili powder,Turmeric powder,Sugar and salt and fry till brown colour .
Add the mashed vegetables and mix well and allow to stay in low fire for 2-3 minutes.
Add lemon juice and stir well.
Garnish with coriander and butter blocks.

For Pavs

Slit the pavs horizontally leaving one edge attached.
In a pan spread little butter and shallow fry the pav ,do the same on both sides.
Serve hot this buttered pav along with bhaji,chopped onion and lemon pieces.

Chocolate Brownie Hearts

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and all are running out to make something special...
There is an old saying"the best way to person's heart is thru the stomach" So my Choclate Brownie Hearts is a way to your heart.....
This recipe is from this week's Friday magazine and let it goes as a Valentine gift for all of you..>


Ingredients

100 gms each,butter and chopped dark choclate
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup each,plain flour and sifted coca powder
icing sugar,for dusting

Method

Prehear oven to 180 degree C/350 degree F.
Line a 24cm x 16cm baking pan with non-stick baking paper.
Place butter,choclate and caster sugar together in a small saucepan and stir over alow heat until melted and smooth.Remove to a bowl,cool slightly then beat in eggs until well combined.Add flour and coco powder and stir until well combined.Spoon into prepared pan,level the top and cook in the oven for 8-10 minutes until the edges are firm and the centre is just set.Cool completely in pan.Once completly cooled carefully remove brownie from pan and use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out four shapes for serving
Serve hearts dusted with icing sugar.

Tip:

To Achieve a perfectly strait line when dusting the heart with icing sugar use a piece of paper to cover one half of the heart and a steady hand ,then liberally dust.Carefully pull away paper.
Add a couple of handfuls of fresh raspberries to the brownie batter,then carefully fold through spooning into prepared pan.
Can add chopped nuts into it ,to make a wounderful taste.

Pineapple Pulissery

Pulissery, is one among my husband's favourite curry and so we prepare regularly.Yes,there are various recipes of pullisery already published by my friends.This recipe is little bit different from others eventhough ingredients are all same.

Ingredients

Pineapple-1 medium sized peeled and cut into small pieces
Thick curd-1 cup
chilli Powder- 2 tsp
turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
sugar-1 tsp
salt to taste
cumin seed-1/4 tsp
black pepper-2-4
coconut grated-1 cup
mustard seed-1 tsp
fenugreek sed-1/2 tsp
curryleaves-2 sprigs
dry red chilli -3-4
coconut oil-1 tbsp

Method

Grind together coconut,pepper and cuminseeds and keep it aside.Cook well pineapple pieces along with chillipowder ,turmeric powder and salt.Add sugar and remove from fire.Allow to cool.Add in beaten curd and mix well.Heat oil in another pan and splutter mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds,then add curry leaves and red chilis,saute for 5 seconds.Add the ground coconut paste and stir well for 2-5 minutes.Remove from fire and add the cooked pineapple into it and mix well.Serve it with steamed rice.

Different Versions of Pullisery:
Plaintain Pullisery,Mampazha Pullisery,Pappaya Pulissery,Naranga Pulissery,Pineapple Pulissery

BitterGourd Pickle

Pickle Mmmmm...,is a must have dish for any occasions in my family and this Pavakka Achar is one among that.I have learnt it from my aunt,She is a fabulous cook.It is very simple to cook,Yet so delicious.


When I start trial this on my friends,"Bitter Gourd Pickle??",They didn't show any interest first,but I surprised them with the mouth-watering pickle,and it became a hit...Try this ...I am sure it will be a success and you all will enjoy this taste.


Ingredients

Bitter gourd-3 medium sized,cut into small pieces
Garlic-10 cloves chopped
Ginger-1 big piece chopped
Onion -1 medium sized,chopped
Green chillies -2 finely chopped
Curry leaves-a few sprigs
Salt to taste
Lemon juice -1 lemon
Oil-1 cup
Vinegar -2 tbsp
Fenugreek seeds-1tsp
Mustard seeds-2tsp
Red chili powder-3tsp
Asafoetida-1 1/2 tsp
Sugar- 2 tsp


Method

Marinate bitter gourd in a mixture of lemon juice,salt and a pinch of turmeric powder for two hours.Refrigerate for another two hours.Squeeze out as much as possible to avoid too much oil being absorbed while frying.

Deep fry ginger and garlic first in hot oil till golden brown.Remove and drain on Kitchen Towel.

Do the same for bitter gourd in batches and keep aside.

Heat oil in another pan ,add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds and the curry leaves and stir -fry until they begin to crackle.then add onion,and green chillies .Saute well until the onions become brown.Add chili powder and Asafoetida powder and saute for 2-3 minutes,Add sugar along with little water and salt and let the mixture bubble in the pan.Add fried ginger,garlic and bitter gourd and stir well .Finally add the vinegar and remove from the fire.

Now the pickle is ready to eat and tastes delicious with steamed rice.

My Weekend

Friday ,from morning here it was raining, and no way to go out...
My husband was busy with his office works and my kids want to play on my computer ,then I had nothing to do..decided to do some experiment for lunch...
Only thing available in my freezer was Kingfish,My mind started buzzing ,Try RP's Fish Biriyani...Try..I took the printout of that recipe and checked the ingredients, Oh what's this paprika and poppy seed!! I don't have that and too I have no idea about that .But I didn't give up the plan, I just substitute nutmeg and pepper ..Biriyani turned out to be a wounderful try...Thank you RP for ur Fish Biriyani Recipe



Here is our Fish Biriyani...Have it with Salad , Pickle and Pappad..

(Because of the gloomy weather I couldn't take a nice picutre of biriyani..But really It was tasty...)

Meen Vattichethu(Fish Curry)

Fish is one of the simplest and quickest meals to prepare ,and so I have done many experiments using that.Meen Vattichetu is one ,which is most popular among keralites,even though it varies from region to region.I know ,my friends from Trivandrum who use tamarind instead of Kudampuli,and those from Thrissur who use mango.But all like to have fish curry for their lunch.

My husband is an expert in selecting good fishes,I don't know how he is recognising,but I see him poking on its eyes and flesh and also checking the gills,and he insists I cook it on the same day.His favourite dish is one with coconut milk,But this time I am doing something different without coconutmilk. I like to have this fish curry with pulisseri and hot rice ,Wow Yummmmy!!!




Ingredients

1/2 kg King fish,Sliced
1 medium sized onion ,sliced
1 medium sized tomato chopped
2-3 green chillies,slit
1-inch piece ginger,chopped
4-5 cloves garlic,chopped
11/2 tbsp Kashmir chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
5-10 fenugreek seeds
2 tbsp coconut oil
3-4 pieces Kudam-puli
2-3 stalks curry leaves
salt to taste

Method

Soak kudampuli in 1 cup warm salt water and keep aside.
Heat oil and toast fenugreek seeds. Add onion,ginger,garlic,chilli and 2-4 curry leaves and saute for a couple of minutes.No need to be brown,then add chilli powder and turmeric powder,saute until u feel "Ahchoo"(hi,hi),add tomato at this stage and saute few more minutes.Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Grind the sauted masala with less water to form a thick paste.
In an earthenware"Manchatti" put the soaked kudampuli with water mix it with the paste ,Boil it,Place fish pieces to this and cover with a lid and allow it to cook in medium heat, swirl the cooking vessel once in a while.Add remaining curry leaf at the final stage.

Note:
The taste of the dish will improve with time and it can keep for up to a week.
Do not add more fenugreek and curry leaves at the initial stage,it will make curry a bitter taste.Fish should never be overcooked as it will become tough and dry.Cook for a minimum amount of time at a slow fire.