Dahi Ni Khichdi

This is a dish that has all my favorite ingredients & I would love to eat it any time of the day!

I am never satisfied with the pressure cooker method of preparing khichdi. I always cook khichdi using the stove top method. Though stove top method takes about an hour to cook, the final result is simply WOW!

Preparation time: 15mins
Cooking time: Around 45-50 mins
Serves: 4-6 adults
Recipe Source: Adapted from Enjoy Indian Food.

Ingredients:
Basmati rice: 1.5 cups
De husked & split green gram/Moong dal: 1 cup
Yogurt/Curd: 1 cup
Salt:According to taste
Potatoes: 1 medium sized, cut into strips or cubes
Carrot: 1 small, cut into strips or cubes
Green peas: 1 fistful
Shallots/Sambar onion: 6-8 nos, coarsely chopped
Roasted coriander-cumin seeds powder: 1 tsp
Pepper powder: 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Salt: According to taste
Water: 8 cups (We like our khichdi mushy!)

 For green paste:

Coriander leaves: 1/2 cup
Green chillies: 4 nos
Ginger: 1 inch piece
Garlic: 1 small pod, optional
Grated coconut: 2 tbsp, fresh or frozen
Water: 2-3 tbsp

For tempering:
Ghee/Clarified butter: 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds: 1.5 tsp
Bay leaf: 1 no

Method:

• Wash the dal thoroughly & soak them in water for 30mins.
• Whisk the yogurt & keep aside.
• Meantime, make a fine paste of the ingredients mentioned under the green paste section.
• Heat a thick bottom saucepan or utensil. Add ghee. When ghee becomes hot, add cumin seeds. When seeds turn brown, add bay leaf.
• Pour the green paste to the pan & stir well.
• Add the turmeric, pepper powder, coriander-cumin powder to the green paste & stir.
• Add the yogurt & mix well.
• Drain the water from the dal & add it to the yogurt mixture.
• Throw in the chopped potatoes, carrots, shallots & peas.
• Add the water & allow the dal to boil & cook on a medium-high heat.
• Meantime, wash the rice thoroughly & soak them in water for 15mins.
• Because of the addition of yogurt, the lentil/dal takes a long time to cook. Stir the mixture once a while to ensure dal doesn't stick to the pan.
• When dal gets 3/4th cooked((It takes around 20-25mins for lentil to get 3/4th cooked), add the soaked rice & continue cooking.
• When the rice gets cooked (soft yet firm), add the salt. Mix well.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low & continue cooking until the khichdi becomes a little mushy (like a porridge).
• Turn off the heat & garnesh it with coriander leaves & grated coconut (completely optional).
• Serve it hot with a raita or kadhi or plain yogurt/curd & papad.

Notes:

• If you feel, water is insufficient for the khichdi, add hot water in between while the rice & the dal mixture is getting cooked. However do not add hot water when the dal & rice is completely cooked.
• If your family doesn't prefer garlic, you could omit it.
• Cooking the khichdi on a stove top takes 2-3 times more time than the pressure cooker method. 
• If you are in a hurry, you could pressure cook it once a while, but I recommend preparing it without the pressure cooker. 
• Do not try to reduce the yogurt as it is the highlight of the dish.
• Do not use butter milk, use store bought or home made plain & fresh yogurt. Sour yogurt is not recommended. 

Paal payasam/Milk & Rice pudding

Indian festivals become incomplete without a dessert or a sweet dish. Any household would cook a wide range of sweets without bothering how much taxing it could be. A very simple yet exorbitant kheer is one of them for sure. So, here I present today a time consuming but not so taxing kheer/payasam/pudding recipe that is loved by one & all!

Recipe Source: thechefandherkitchen

Ingredients:
Sona masoori rice: 1/2 cup (Any other medium grain rice like ponni rice, raw rice would do)
Full cream fresh milk: 5 cups
Sugar:  1/3rd cup
Saffron: a pinch
Cardamom powder: 1/4th tsp
Chopped nuts: 1.5 tbsp (I used sliced almonds, chopped pistachios & raisins)

Method:

• Wash the rice thoroughly & soak them in water for 10-15mins.
• Meantime, heat milk in a thick bottomed vessel.
• Crush the safrron between your palms & add the saffron to the milk.
• When milk becomes hot, drain the water from the soaked rice & add the rice & raisins to the milk. Preserve the other nuts for later use. Stir well.
• Cook the rice in milk on a medium heat. Keep stirring once a while to ensure that rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the vessel.
• When rice is cooked (takes around 30-35mins), add the sugar, cardamom powder & reduce the heat.
• Cook on a low heat for another 5-7mins.
• Turn off the heat, garnish with the chopped nuts.
• Serve them hot, warm or cold.

Notes:
The payasam becomes a bit thick after it is cooled down. If you prefer it more on the kheer types, add few tablespoons of hot milk to your serving & heat for couple of minutes in the stove or microwave & then enjoy!

I'm sending this recipe to the event "Tried and tested" hosted by me & to the event creator Lakshmi.
I'm waiting for your entries now :)

Update: I'm also sending this to Priya's "Celebrate Sweets-Sweets with rice" event & to the creator Nivedita.

Pesarattu/Green gram crepes

Its been very very busy time for me, from the past couple of weeks. No time to sit at one place. I am moving all around the place to finish up all the work. At the same time, I am clearing my pantry too.

BTW, do not forget about the current event going on at my blog. Kindly send in as many entries as possible. Thanks :)
Now that I am super excited in hosting my first event, that I am visiting Prathibha's space everyday to try something. Pesarattu is one such recipe I tried from the blog. She has blogged about upma pesarattu. Since I was making them for the first time, I wasn't sure if my family would take upma & pesarattu together. Hence, I skipped making upma. Will include it next time. I followed the recipe blindly & it was a super hit at my home.

Original recipe could be found here.

Ingredients:
For dosa batter:
Green gram/Hara moong: 2 cups
Raw rice: a fistful
Ginger: 1 inch piece
Green chillies: 4 nos (original recipe asked for 2)
Cumin seeds: 1.5 tsp (this is the only addition I did!)

Other ingredients:
Oil : 1/2 to1 tsp for each pesarattu.

Method:

• Wash the green gram & rice. Soak the green gram & rice together for 4-6 hours or over night.
• Drain the water from the gram & rice. Add the ginger, green chillies, cumin seeds & make a fine paste of the green gram & rice using a Indian mixie/blender or wet grinder.  

• Scoop out the paste & adjust the consistency of the batter. The batter should be like a thick milkshake (just like the normal dosa batter).

• Add salt & mix well.
• Heat a griddle/tava. When griddle is hot, pour a ladle full of batter to the center of the tava & spread it like normal dosa. I make the pesarattu very thin.
• Pour around 1/2 to 1 tsp of oil over the pesarattu & cover the pesarattu with a lid. Let it cook on a medium-high heat for a minute.
• Remove the lid & increase the heat to high & cook for another 30-45secs.
• Remove the pesarattu from the griddle. No need to flip the pesarattu & cook it on another side.
• Reduce the flame & pour few drops of water to decrease the tempeature of the griddle. If the griddle is very hot, the batter sticks to the griddle.
• Repeat the procedure with the remaining batter. Serve it hot with a chutney/dip of your choice.

Notes:

• Pesarattu is cooked on one side only. 
• In case you have soaked the green gram for some other purpose & want to use it for making pesarattu, dont worry that you have not soaked rice. Just grind the green gram & add a fistful of rice flour. Proceed as usual.
• Prathibha has clearly explained about how to roast the pesarattu. Have a look at it. 

Announcing my first event - "Tried & Tested" event!

Here is the announcement of a blog event "Tried & Tested", for the month of April-11. This is the first ever event on this space. When I got the confirmation from Lakshmi, I was overwhelmed & super excited...

I have chosen Prathibha's " the chef and her kitchen" blog as the blog of the month.I have bookmarked a lot of recipes from her blog & want to try them. I am sure most of you must have done it too! She has a well maintained blog with many fans following her. Her blog soothes your eyes with pictures of good food. I love her dosa varieties & Andhra recipes. I am sure you will enjoy cooking the delicacies from her blog. Then what are you waiting for. Visit her blog, cook, click & send in your entries!

Here are some simple rules:

• Cook any recipe(s) from Prathibha's blog and post about it. Stay as true to the original recipe(s) as possible. Therefore, there is no need for re-posting it, simply link to the original post. Multiple entries are welcome!
• There is no time-frame for the original recipe. It can be as old as your grand-mother or as fresh as a mung bean sprout.
• Have you cooked from Blog of the month before? As this event is all about tasting and reflecting on the taste, older posts are also welcome. Kindly repost it & give a link to this post. Don't forget to mention about the T&T event.
• Link your post to this announcement and to Lakshmi's blog . Please always link to both sites, so both blogs are given credit and you are avoiding copyright fuss. Kindly use the logo. Thanks :)
• Send me an e-mail to sushma.saviruchi@gmail.com with the following details:

• Your name:
• Name of the blog:
• Recipe tried:
• Your post URL as well as the original URL:
• A picture (300px by height, please):

• Deadline is 6th May 2011 and the round up will be posted within 15 days. 
• Non-bloggers are more than welcome to participate.Simply e-mail me with your experience of what you cooked and please include a picture.

Eggless savory pancakes/Instant vegetable uttappam

I am clearing my pantry from the last couple of weeks. Even after not buying any grocery for almost a month, I am able to manage run the kitchen for another month!

I had a huge packet of self raising flour lying in my store room & hence came up with this recipe. I added instant oats too, to make it a healthier one.

Ingredients: (Makes about 20 pancakes)
Self raising flour: 2.5 cups
Instant oats: 1.5 cups
Buttermilk: 2 cups
Finely chopped or minced vegetables: Around 2.5 cups, I did not measure this. (I added carrots, beet roots, cabbage, onion, cucumber,  potato, capsicum)
Green chilli paste: 1/2 tsp, optional
Coriander leaves: 1 tbsp, finely chopped
Salt: to taste
Water: 1-2 cups more.

Other ingredients:
Oil: few drops for each pancake

Method:

• Take a broad vessel. Add all the above ingredients mentioned & prepare a smooth batter out of it (Similar to the dosa/pancake batter). Ensure there are no lumps. 
• Keep the batter aside for 5 mins.
• Meantime heat a griddle/tava/tawa. When the griddle is hot, pour around 1.5 tbsp of batter in the center of the griddle & spread it gently. 
• Add few drops of oil & cover the griddle. Cook both sides of the pancake on a medium high heat until golden brown. 
• Remove the pancake & repeat the procedure with the remaining batter. 
• Enjoy it hot with a spicy dip of your choice.  

Notes:

• If you do not have self raising flour, then use All-Purpose flour/maida. Add 1/4 tsp of baking soda to the batter to make the pancakes light & fluffy.
• You could add any vegetables of your choice. I added variety of vegetables I have in my refrigerator.