Its getting colder and colder here. Today the temperature here is 4F and I am frozen to my bones. I am knitting a lot these days but it looks like I can never get enough warm cloths for the season. A hot bowl of delicious food is all I crave for when I step in the house. I think a one pot dish like a spicy pongal with loads of vegetables in it, is a heavenly food in this season.
Ingredients: 3/4 cup rice 1/4 cup moong dal 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds 1 tea spn cumin seeds 1/2 tea spn fenugreek seeds 4-5 curry leaves 4 green chillies 1/4 tea spn pepper powder A pinch turmeric powder 2 cups vegetables – cauliflower, cabbage, capsicum, carrot, green beans 5 strands coriander leaves Ghee Salt
Method: Roast 1/2 tea spn cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and powder them. Heat ghee and add mustard seeds, 1/2 tea spn cumin seeds. When they start popping, add turmeric, curry leaves, green chillies. Fry for min and add vegetables, rice, dal and fry for 3-4 mins. Add pepper, salt. Add the cumin-fenugreek powder. Pour in water(about 4 times rice). Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves. Cook in pressure cooker. Serve hot.
Serves : 2-3 Preparation time : 30mins
These days I am becoming more adventurous in my cooking. I was trying to make different types of parathas for dinner everyday and this was one of the successful experiments. I normally don’t buy mint here, as it is very strong compared to what we get in India. But this time I saw a pretty good bunch and bought it. We both liked these minty parathas which had a sweetish tinge due to peas.
Ingredients: 2 cups wheat flour 1/2 cup fresh/frozen peas 3 green chillies 2 tbl spns chopped pudina (mint) Oil Ghee Salt
Method: Cook peas for few minutes (I cooked them just for 2 minutes as I used frozen ones). Grind them with mint, green chillies and salt. Grind to a paste without adding too much water. Add this paste to wheat flour. Make a dough. If required, add little water. Add 1/2 tea spn oil, knead again and keep side for about 20mins. Take small balls from the dough and roll them into parathas . Roast them on a hot tava . Apply ghee if required. Serve hot.
Serves : 3-4 Preparation time : 30mins
