Murungai Keerai Poriyal / Moringa / Horseradish / Drumstick Tree Leaves Stir Fry

Drumstick leaves or Murungai keerai has good amount of  nutrition among greens. All parts of drumstick tree are used in various methods to cure health problems because of its medicinal value. Specially, the drumstick greens are rich in vitamins, minerals, protein etc and can be included in our regular diet. Since these leaves are rich in iron and calcium, it is very good for pregnant ladies, feeding mothers, growing children and those who suffer from anaemia!

Today, I would like to discuss about the preparation of Drumstick Leaves Stir Fry | Murungai Keerai Poriyal | Muringai Keerai Thoran | Drumstick Greens Fry

Ingredients:

• Drumstick leaves – 1 cup (tightly packed)
• Shallots (finely chopped) – 5 Nos.
• Red chillies  (broken into 2) – 2 Nos
• Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
• Coconut (grated) – 3 tbsp
• Salt to taste.

For seasoning:

• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Mustard – 1 tsp
• Urad dhal – 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Pluck the drumstick leaves from the stem, wash with water thoroughly. Drain the leaves and keep it aside.
2. In a kadai, pour oil and season with the items given “For Seasoning”.
3. To this add red chilies and shallots and fry until shallots become translucent.
4. Now add turmeric powder, mix well. To this add drumstick leaves and sauté for a minute so that all leaves get coated with oil.
5. Sprinkle a handful of water, mix everything well and close it with a lid.
6. Cook the drumstick leaves, opening the lid now and then, and stirring in between. If the leaves are dry, add little water and cook.
7. Finally add required salt and coconut, mix everything evenly and switch off.

Your Murungai Keerai Poriyal is ready to serve with rice and Sambar | Kara Kuzhambu | Curd. I have served this Murungai Keerai Poriyal with rice and Kondaikadali Kuzhambu and tasted delecious!

Note:

• Don’t overcook the greens.  Add little water now and then to cook Keerai so that the green colour of the leaves will be retained.
• These leaves will have a slight bitter taste but when combined with generous amount of urad dhal and coconut gratings, bitterness will not be felt. If you want, you can add a tsp of sugar while adding coconut.
• The drumstick leaves should be cleaned when it is fresh, otherwise, the leaves will fall off with the stems and it will be difficult to separate both.
• Yellow coloured drumstick  leaves should be discarded since it is believed that it will cause stomach pain and diarrhea.

Tags: Drumstick greens Stir Fry recipe, Murungai Keerai Recipes, Greens recipes, Muringai Keerai Thoran, Muringai Keerai thuvattal recipe,  Drumstick leaves poriyal, Drumstick leaves recipe

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Karuveppilai Kuzhambu / Curry Leaves Gravy

I am really happy to know that my friends and followers are very health conscious. Now, how would I have gotten to know about that? Your viewership has spoken and I got the maximum page hits for “Karuveppilai Rice/ Curry Leaves Rice” which I had posted earlier. It continues to remains at top even now. Thus, I decided to come up with one another recipe using Curry Leaves. Of course, we all know about the health benefits of curry leaves. By preparing gravy or rice using these leaves, we can include  a good amount of these leaves in our diet.

Karuveppilai Kuzhambu/ Curry Leaves Gravy  has many versions  and the mostly  followed recipe is a tamarind-based gravy. I will post those methods later. Today, the recipe I have given here is my grandma’s method. This gravy is fully packed with the unique flavor of curry leaves. Everyone will definitely love this gravy to have with hot, steaming rice with a bite of  appalam. This  is enough to have a satisfying meal.

Ingredients:

To fry & grind:

• Curry leaves – 1 cup
• Shallots – 5 to 6 Nos
• Garlic – 6 pods
• Red chillies – 5 Nos
• Grated coconut – 3 tbsp
• Tomato – 1 No (Medium)
• Tamarind – small pod (optional)
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Salt to taste

For seasoning:

• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Mustard- 1 tsp
• Jeera – 1 tsp
• Red chilli – 1 No.
• Shallots (finely chopped) -5 Nos
• Curry leaves – few
• Tomato (finely chopped) – 1 No. (Small)

Method:

1. In a tablespoon of oil in a kadai, add chillies first and then shallots and garlic and fry for a while.
2. To this add tomato and then fry the curry leaves.
3. Add grated coconut, fry for 3 minutes. Add tamarind.
4. Allow the contents to cool. Transfer the contents to a mixie jar and  grind it  to a fine paste.
5. In a kadai, pour oil and season with mustard, jeera, red chilli and curry leaves.
6. Add shallots and fry for a while, then add tomato and fry until the tomato becomes soft.
7. Finally add the ground paste, add required water and salt and bring it to a boil. The gravy consistency should  be thick like thokku.

Switch off and serve this Karuveppilai Kuzhambu with hot, steaming rice and appalam! You can serve any poriyal with this gravy but don’t forget to have this with appalam. This kuzhanmbu can also be served for idli and dosa as a chutney / dip.

Note:

• Wash curry leaves thoroughly in water and allow the water to drain completely before frying these leaves.

Tags: Karuveppilai Kuzhambu, curry leaves kuzhambu, karuveppilai kuzhambu for rice, Karuveppilai Kuzhambu for rice, kariveppilai kuzhambu, kariveppilai gravy for rice, idli, dosa, How to make curry leaves gravy? How to make Curry leaves gravy with fresh Karuveppilai? How to prepare Kuzhambu with fresh curry leaves? Kuzhambu with fresh curry leaves, Gravy with fresh Karuveppilai

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Sweet Ragi Puttu / Keppai Puttu / Sweet Finger Millet Crumb

Ragi Puttu / Keppai Puttu/ Kezhvaragu Puttu is a healthy breakfast prepared by steaming ragi flour either in Idli Cooker or using Puttu Kudam. Today I have prepared Ragi Puttu using my Idli Pot. This is not only a breakfast, can be prepared as a quick snack for the kids coming home from the school. Ragi puttu can also be given to diabetic patients. Only thing is that they have to  skip sugar & cardamom and eat as such because the flavour and mild sweetness in the ragi itself will compensate for the sugar.

Ragi is otherwise known as ‘Finger Millet’ in English and ‘Keppai’ or ‘Kezhvaragu’ in Tamil. This millet is very rich in iron and calcium. It had been a  practice to make Porridge or Kali using this millet in villages during olden days and was taken regularly as breakfast.  Slowly, things have changed as even in villages, they are using only polished rice. But, now, awareness has been created through media and other sources to include these millets in our regular diet for a healthy life. Most of our children who are exposed to only white grains will stay away from Ragi on seeing its colour. But we can introduce this millet as the sweet Ragi Puttu to them, which they will most certainly enjoy.

Ingredients:

• Ragi flour – 1 cup
• Coconut (grated) – ½ cup
• Ghee – 1 tbsp
• Sugar – 3 tbsp
• Salt – a pinch
• Cardamom powder – a pinch (optional)

Method:

1. Dry fry Ragi flour in a heavy bottomed kadai in simmer until you get nice aroma.
2. In the mean time, bring 1 cup of water to a rolling boil.
3. Transfer the flour to a mixing bowl and mix a pinch of salt with it. Alternate between slowly adding a small amount of hot water and mixing the flour with a ladle until you get the consistency described. Don’t add too much of water. The flour consistency should be such that the flour is just wet. You should be able to shape the flour (like kolukattai) if you hold it tightly but it must be loose if left alone. When the flour reaches this stage, stop adding water.
4. In the Idli pot, pour water and bring it to boil.
5. Take the idli plate, spread a wet muslin cloth or kada cloth and evenly spread the wet ragi flour over the idli plate.
6. Place the idli plate inside the idli pot and steam the puttu for about 10 minutes.
7. Transfer the puttu to a bowl, add coconut gratings, ghee, sugar and cardamom powder and mix everything well.

Your yummy, sweet ragi puttu is ready for serving!

Note:

• The recipe is very simple except for the step(3). We need to take extra care while mixing the puttu flour with water.
• You can also mix nuts of your choice with this puttu  to make it healthier for kids.
• You need not worry about the cooking time, the aroma of ragi flour itself will tell you that your ragi puttu is ready. The entire house will get filled with nice aroma of Ragi! Try it & enjoy!!

Tags: Ragi Puttu recipe, Finger Millet Puttu recipe, How to make Ragi Puttu at home?, Keppai Puttu, Kezhvaragu Puttu, Millets Puttu recipe, How to prepare Ragi puttu flour?, Steamed ragi flour with coconut,  Sweet Ragi Puttu,  Inippu  Keppai  Puttu,  sweet dish with ragi, healthy snack using ragi, Healthy ragi breakfast recipes, ragi recipes for kids

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Yummy Lunch Combo - Potato Fry/Aloo Fry with Radish Sambar

Yummy Lunch Combo – Under this category, I will suggest some good pairs that go hand in hand for serving better lunch! Whenever we make something which is not that appealing, we can make it interesting by pairing with a good side dish.

Today, I have paired Radish Sambar (Mullangi Sambar) with Potato Fry (Urulai Kizhangu Curry)! I know, many of us will run away on hearing the name “Radish” (but I’m a great fan of Radish!). But knowing the health benefits of radish, it is very much essential to include in everybody’s diet.  Of course, Potato Fry/Aloo Fry / Urulaikizhangu Fry  is the best accompaniment for all variety rices, rotis , sambhar, rasam and curd rice and is universally loved.

We shall go for the recipe.

For making Radish Sambar:

Just follow my recipe “Murungaikkai Kathirikkai Sambar” and simply replace the veggies with radish. That’s all. Your flavourful Radish Sambar (Mullangi Sambar) is ready!

For making Potato Fry/Aloo Fry/Urulai Kizhangu Fry:

Potato  is a root vegetable available throughout the year and is known as Urulai Kizhangu in Tamil and as Aloo in Hindi. Pototo does not have any flavour or taste of its own and the added masalas will get infused yielding delicious dish.

The recipe, I have followed here is a simple Potato Fry but tastes great with any rice or for rotis.

Ingredients:

• Potato – 2 Nos (Medium)
• Shallots (finely chopped) – 5 Nos
• Garlic (crushed) – 3 pods
• Tomato (finely chopped) – 1 No
• Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp
• Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
• Salt to taste

For seasoning:

• Oil- 1 tbsp
• Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
• Curry leaves – few

Method:

1. Boil the potatoes, peel the skin and dice into cubes. Keep it aside.
2. Take a heavy bottomed kadai, pour oil and season with fennel seeds.
3. Add curry leaves, shallots and garlic and sauté till the shallots become golden brown.
4. Then add the tomato and sauté well till the tomato gets mashed well.
5. Add chilli & turmeric powders along with required salt and sauté for a minute in simmer.
6. Finally, add potatoes and give a nice stir so that all potato pieces get even coating of masala. Add a handful of water, mix well, cover with a lid and cook in simmer.
7. Open the lid now and then and turn the potato masala upside  town every time open the lid. Cook until the masala get infused into the potatoes.

Your Potato fry is ready to serve with Radish Sambar! Try this combo and let me know your feedback!

Note:

This  potato fry can be prepared with minimum oil by cooking the dish in slow fire.

Tags: Potato Fry, Potato Masala, Potato Curry Recipe, Urulai Kizhangu Curry recipe, Urulai Masala recipe, Urulaikkilangu fry, Urulaikkizhangu Masala, Aloo fry recipe, Aloo Masala, Aloo masala recipe, Radish sambar, Mullangi sambar recipe, How to make sambar with Radish?, South Indian Sambar recipe using radish, South Indian Urulai Kizhangu Masala for Rice, Urulaikizhangu Curry and Mullangi sambar

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Karthigai Pori/ Karthigai Nel Pori/ Sweetened Puffed Paddy

Karthigai pori is a traditional sweet dish made with ‘Nel Pori’ and jaggery. It is a practice to offer Pori to God on some special occasions, poojas, etc,  in Tamil Nadu and Kerala  But Karthigai Pori  is a special Neivedyam (நைவேத்யம்) usually made on Thiru Karthigai Deepam festival.  Nel pori is nothing but puffed paddy  and is specially prepared by the Pori vendors  during the month of  “Kiruthigai”. Almost all the shops will have a stock of it since people buy it to make a sweet to offer Lord Muruga.

Karthigai Pori Urundai, Nel pori Urundai, Karthigai Appam, etc, are also made on this Karthigai festival. The traditional recipe for “Karthigai Pori” calls for a simple recipe and does not involve the complicated procedure of preparing this sweet in the form of balls. In fact, it gets  a different name if made in the form of balls i.e. Karthigai Pori Urundai. It is very simple to make but delicious to eat  since the pori is  combined  with jaggery, coconut and  porikadalai with the flavour of cardamom and ginger powder.  This recipe is not only for Deepam festival  but  can also be prepared as a healthy snack for kids coming home from school. 

Ingredients:

• Nel pori – 2 cups
• Roasted gram (Porikadalai/Pottukkadalai) – ½ cup
• Coconut (cut into small pieces) – ½  cup
• Jaggery (Pagu vellam)-1/4  cup
• Water – 3 tbsp
• Cardamom powder – 1 tsp
• Dry ginger powder – 1 tsp
• Ghee – 1 tsp

Method:

1. Clean the  Pori by spreading it on a big plate (தாம்பாளத் தட்டு) and picking out paddy skin and stones. Keep the cleaned pori aside.
2. In a kadai, add ghee and fry the coconut pieces till you get aroma and keep it aside.
3. In a wide mouthed kadai, melt jaggery in water  until the jaggery syrup forms a soft ball consistency.
4. Now add fried coconut, roasted gram, cardamom and dry ginger powder and mix well.
5. Switch off the fire and add pori to this mixture and mix  everything  well.
6. Transfer this mixture to a bowl and offer to Lord Karthikeya along with other Bhakshanams!

Note:

• You can also try to make Pori Urundai following the same recipe  by dusting your hands with rice flour when the mixture is hot!
• Pori kadalai/Pottukadalai added in this mixture should be crispy.
• The quantity of coconut and Pori kadalai can be varied as per our choice/ availability.

Tags: Karthigai Deepam Recipe, Nel Pori Urundai recipe, Aval pori urundai recipe, Kathigai Pori recipe, Traditional recipe for Karthigai Deepam, Traditional Karthigai Pori recipe, Karthigai Pori sweet recipe, Thiru Karthigai Deepam recipes, How to make Karthigai Pori at home?, How to prepare Karthigai Pori?

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Dry Fruits Appam/ Dry Fruits Kuzhi Appam/ Dry Fruits Kuzhi Paniyaram

This is my 50^th post and hence I want to commemorate the occasion with a sweet recipe. Since Karthigai Deepam is nearing, I got the opportunity to combine both, presenting you with a sweet that is prepared for the festival. For Karthigai Deepam festival, we usually prepare Karthigai Appam, Karthigai Pori and vada to offer Lord Muruga. In down south areas especially in Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, etc, they prepare varieties of Kolukattais also for Neivedyam.

Today, I tried  Appam with Dry Fruits for a change and it came out really well. It doesn’t need elaborate preparation like soaking and it is healthy too for kids since we add all nuts and dried fruits.

Here is the recipe for Dry Fruits Appam!

Ingredients:

• Wheat flour – ½ cup
• Rice flour – ½ cup
• Jaggery – ½ cup
• Coconut (grated) – 3 tbsp
• Cardamom powder – 1 tbsp
• Ghee for frying
• Cashew, Almond (badam), Pista, Dates (ground paste) – ½ cup
• Milk – ¼ cup

 Method:

1. Grind cashew, badam , pista and dates  to a fine paste adding milk now and then and transfer it to a mixing bowl.
2. Melt jaggery in ½ cup water, strain the impurities and keep it aside.
3. Add wheat flour, rice flour, coconut and cardamom powder to the ground paste and mix everything well by adding jaggery syrup. Bring the batter to idli batter consistency.
4. Heat a non-stick paniyarakkal and pour a tsp of ghee in each hole.
5. Take a ladleful of batter and pour into each hole.
6. Cook in simmer until the appam gets cooked on both sides by flipping it on to the other side too.

Your  soft, healthy appams are ready for Pooja to offer “Lord Muruga” as Neivedyam!

Note:

• You can replace rice flour with maida also.
• If you don’t prefer adding ghee, you can go for any cooking oil but the real taste of dry fruits can be enjoyed only when it is combined with ghee.
• You can reduce the jaggery amount if you feel so since we are adding dates also.

Tags: Karthigai Deepam Recipe, Karthigai Appam recipe, Dry Fruits Kuzhi Paniyaram, Traditional recipe for Karthigai, Karthigai sweet recipe, Thiru Karthigai Deepam recipes

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Mutton Biryani / Goat Biryani (Seeraga Chamba Mutton Biryani)

Mutton Biryani/ Goat Biryani is the one which will tempt every non-vegetarian biryani lovers. I guess there will barely be anyone who will say “No” to this yummy biryani. Whenever I prepare a dish with goat meat/mutton, I take extra care because my son will eat mutton dishes only when it is extraordinarily delicious. He doesn’t like goat meat as much as chicken. I prepare chicken biryani quite often  because it is my son’s fav and I have already posted the recipe for Chicken Biryani.

Today, I made mutton  biryani with “Seeraga Chamba/Jeera Samba” rice instead of Basmati rice and it came out really delicious. This rice has its own flavor and it really adds its taste to the biryani.  In the Southern part of Tamilnadu, everyone uses this seeraga  chamba rice for making biryani. Even in  restaurants, they use only this rice for biryani. The very famous Dindigul Biryani recipe calls for this  seeraga samba rice. In Chennai, most of the restaurants use basmati rice except some like  “Dindigul Thalappakatti”.

The recipe for making Mutton Biryani in pressure cooker is very simple and easy to make. Today I think I can share the recipe for Mutton Biryani using pressure cooker.

Ingredients:

• Seeraga samba rice – 3 cups
• Mutton/ Goat meat (boneless) – ½  Kg
• Onion (Big) – 4 Nos (chopped lengthwise)
• Tomato – 4 Nos.(Medium)(chopped)
• Green chilli – 3 Nos.
• Fresh Curd – 2  tbs
• Ginger, garlic, fennel & kuskus  paste – 2 tbs
• Chilli powder – 2 tbs
• Biryani powder – 1 tbsp
• Turmeric powder -1 tsp
• Coriander leaves (finely chopped) – ¼ cup
• Mint leaves (finely chopped) – ½ cup
• Salt to taste

To grind:

• Ginger – 3” piece
• Garlic   - 15 pods
• Fennel – 1tbsp
• Kuskus  - 1 tsp

To roast & grind:

• Cinnamon – 1” piece
• Clove- 2 Nos.
• Cardamom – 2 Nos.
• Annasi poo – 1 No.

For seasoning:

• Bay leaf – 1 No.
• Cinnamon – 1 inch piece
• Kal paasi – 2 Nos
• Cloves – 2 Nos
• Cardamom  - 2 Nos.
• Fennel seeds – 1 tbsp
• Oil -4 tbs
• Ghee – 1 tsp (optional)

Method:

1. Clean mutton well in running water , cut it to required size and keep it ready.
2. Dry roast the items given under “Roast & Grind” till you get nice aroma and grind it to a fine powder. Keep it aside.
3. Take a pressure cooker, pour the oil and wait till the oil gets heated. Add the items given under “seasoning” one by one and wait until all these splutter to get the aroma from the seasoning.
4. Add onion and Green chilli (just break into 2 or 3) and sauté well until the onion becomes translucent. Then add the ground paste mentioned above under “To grind” and sauté till the raw smell of the masala goes off.
5. Add finely chopped tomato and add some salt so that the tomato will get cooked easily and sauté till the tomato gets mashed well.
6. Then add all the masala powders and sauté till the oil oozes  out from the masala. Next, add curd and sauté well until the mixture gets glossy appearance.
7. Then  add cleaned mutton , sauté well,  add half portion of coriander  & mint leaves.
8. Add required salt  and  3 cups of water, close the lid and wait for  4  whistles and 5 minutes in simmer.
9. In the mean time, wash the seeraga samba rice and leave it as such after draining the water. It is sufficient if we do this part before 10 minutes of making biryani.
10. Now open the pressure cooker, drain the mutton pieces and measure the gravy, add water so that the gravy+water =6 cups for 3 cups of rice and keep it aside.
11. In a separate pressure pan, add ghee/oil, sauté rice along with the balance coriander, mint leaves and the cooked mutton. Add ground masala powder prepared with items given under “Roast & Grind” in step(2) and mix everything well and cook  for 3 to 5 minutes.
12. Then add gravy+water (6 cups) and  needed salt. You can check for spice also at this stage and you can add if needed. Stir well and close the lid. Wait for 1 whistle, then simmer the flame for 3 minutes. Open the cooker after releasing the pressure slowly. Then follow the same procedure as we have done for Mushroom Biryani recipe.

Your delicious, hot, spicy  Mutton Biryani is ready to serve! I have served the mutton biryani with onion raita and my favourite  ElumbuSambar!!

Note:

• Usually I prefer adding  small mutton pieces as shown in the pic. If you like you can make it bigger.
• Cooking time for mutton varies and you should decide the whistles allowed while cooking mutton.
• You can prepare this biryani with basmati rice also.

Tags: Mutton biryani recipe, Dindigul Biriyani recipe, how to make mutton biriyani at home, Mutton biryani with seeraga samba rice, mutton biryani with jeera samba, jeera samba mutton biryani recipe, seeraga chamba rice mutton biriyani, jeera chamba mutton biryani, boneless mutton biryani with seeraga samba rice, goat meat biryani, goat biryani with basmati rice, mutton biryani with raita and elumbu sambar, hotel style mutton biriyani recipe, pressure cooker mutton biryani recipe

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Adai Dosa/ Paruppu Adai (Lentil Dosa)

Paruppu Adai or Adai Dosa is a mixture of dhals and rice and when combined with other ingredients, makes a perfect breakfast/dinner recipe. The recipe is versatile enough that we can add our own dhal and rice measurements. Whatever may be the proportions, we can eat these adais. To get a crispy and spicy adai, we need to follow some specific proportions.

I wont forget this adai in my life, because during my hostel days (working women), I used to long(?!) for this adai during  weekends. I think it was the only dish I ate during those days at the hostel. I don’t mean that  the master’s preparation was perfect & delicious, no…. he would make it like a pizza base with so many black spots but even then,  I could manage to eat! In my opinion, adai can be eaten in any form even if it is not perfectly made.

Traditionally, adai is made with thick base and with lots of oil. The method I follow will give you a thin and crispy adai with just 2 to 3 drops of oil. So I can say, it is a low calorie version of Adai and diabetic friendly too.

Ingredients:

• Raw rice – 1 cup
• Urad dhal – 2 tbsp
• Toor dahl – ½ cup
• Channa dhal  (kadalai paruppu)– ½ cup
• Red chillies – 10 Nos.
• Fennel seeds – 1 tbsp
• Onion (finely chopped) – ½ cup
• Asafoetida – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Curry leaves ( finely chopped) – 3 to 4 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Oil to cook

Method:

1. Wash and soak rice with urad dhal in water for about 1 hour. Also do the same for toor and channa dhal.
2. Grind soaked rice and urad along with red chillies and fennel seeds to the stage before they become fine granules. Transfer this to a container.
3. Grind the soaked dhals coarsely and take this mixture in the same container.
4. Add all the above ingredients except oil and mix it well to a thick idli batter consistency.
5. Heat a tawa. Pour a ladle full of batter and spread it circularly like a thin dosa.
6. Drizzle few drops of oil and close with the lid and cook in simmer.
7. After 2 to 3 minutes, open the lid and flip the adai to the other side and cook in simmer without lid for about 2 minutes.

The crispy, spicy, hot adai is ready to be served. Usually, Avial is a very famous side dish served along with Adai.  But in my opinion,  it does not even require an accompaniment and can be taken as such or with little jaggery.

Tags: Adai dosai recipe, Lentils dosa, crispy adai recipe, how to prepare crispy Adai with less oil, Mixed Lentil  Adai recipe, Crispy Adai Dosa recipe, How to prepare crispy Adais?, Low calorie Adai, Diabetic friendly Adai Dosa, Rice and lentil dosa, Rice and lentil Adai, Paruppu adai dosai recipe, Paruppu adai

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Cauliflower Rice/ Cauliflower Sadam

Cauliflower rice/ Cauliflower sadam  is very simple to make and best suited for our lunch boxes. Cauliflower season has started now and our refrigerators will  definitely have a place for it. Nowadays, cauliflowers are available in big sizes. In that case, we have to think about two different menus with the same vegetable. If I happen to buy such a big cauliflower, I usually make some side dish or curry with a portion of cauliflower and most often, the rest will go for making Cauliflower rice. This rice can be made with leftover rice also. If you are left with a bowl of cooked rice and want to make it interesting, you can go for this rice recipe.

Now we will move on to cauliflower rice recipe.

Ingredients:

• Cooked rice -1 ½ cup
• Cauliflower florets – 1cup
• Onion (finely chopped) – 1 No. (Medium)
• Garlic (crushed) – 2 pods (optional)
• Tomato (finely chopped) – 2 Nos
• Red chilli powder – 2tsp
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Garam masala powder – ½ tsp
• Cilantro/ coriander leaves (finely chopped) – 2 tbsp
• Salt to taste

For seasoning:

• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Fennel seeds – 1 tsp

Method:

1. As usual, clean the cauliflower and cut it into small florets. Soak these florets in hot water with salt and turmeric for about 5 minutes.
2. Take out the florets and wash in regular water and allow the water from the florets to drain completely.
3. Cook the rice as we do for making variety rice and allow it to cool.
4. In a non-stick pan, pour oil and temper with the ingredients given under ‘For seasoning’.
5. Add finely chopped onion and garlic and sauté till the onion becomes translucent.
6. Add finely chopped tomatoes and sauté till tomatoes get mashed well.
7. Add the masala powders and cook till the oil leaves out from the masala.
8. Now, add cauliflower and mix everything well and sauté for 2 minutes. Then sprinkle a handful of water over cauliflower and cook it covered for 5 minutes. Open the lid now & then, and stir so that the masala doesn’t get burnt at the bottom.
9. Finally add coriander leaves and give a stir.
10. After the cauliflower becomes soft and  gets mixed with the masala,  add the cooked rice and gently mix the cauliflower masala. Keep it covered with a lid for a minute.

Your Cauliflower Rice is ready to serve with any raita, tomato sauce or potato chips! As I said earlier, this is an ideal dish for your children’s lunch box.

Note:

• I have prepared this rice with regular Ponni rice, you can  use Basmati rice or even leftover rice!
• You need to cook the cauliflower according to your taste, ie. Either crunchy or soft, cook it accordingly in step (8). My personal opinion is crunchy cauliflower will taste better than the soft one.

Tags: Cauliflower rice recipe, cauliflower sadam recipe, rice using cauliflower masala, variety rice using cauliflower, lunch box recipe with cauliflower, cauliflower masala sadam, left over rice recipe with cauliflower, cauliflower masala with rice, mixed rice using cauliflower, cauliflower masala and left over rice.

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Happy Diwali

Happy Diwali to one & all!

Please check my posts under "Diwali Recipes"

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