Tamatar Chawal | Easy Seasoned Tomato Rice

Rice is the easiest of foods to prepare in a rush. Today's recipe involves cooked rice, so its the prefect recipe if you have some rice ready to use in your refrigerator! This Tomato Rice is a yummy treat for adults and kids alike. I like to serve it hot with chutney and plain yogurt. Alternatively, this is a great treat to carry in your lunch box or for a day out too.

Asparagus Pepper Rice | Rice Recipes

A simple recipe for a quick lunch today. Though asparagus is a seasonal vegetable, we sometime also get it around the festive period. I love asparagus and if I see it I just can't resist buying it. Usually we eat it sauteed in olive oil and butter with lots and lots of garlic. But sometimes I also make Indian style recipes with it. Asparagus Pepper Rice is one of the easiest ways to use asparagus and any left over rice. It is a great add on item for a family lunch or dinner.

Shimla Mirche ke Chawal | Spicy Green Bell Pepper Rice

Fried rice recipes are so easy to put together. A well spiced fried rice dish tastes wonderful warm or cold and makes for a simple and flavorful recipe for a packed lunch or a picnic lunch. Though fried rice recipes are often made with leftover rice, I love to make them with fresh rice too. They make a great one pot meal for lunch or dinner and then if I have any leftover I use it for the lunchbox. If you have an office microwave, you can carry this for lunch the next day too.

Tamatar Bhaat | Tomato Rice with Edamame Beans

With the Memorial Day weekend, the week seems to be going by very fast. Holidays on a Monday always do this to me - by the middle of the week, I am looking up the calendar to check if we are at Tuesday or Wednesday!! Do you feel the same way? Our weekend was quite busy, but we were able to make our first trip of the season to one of our favourite local farms!! I had an email from them announcing that the asparagus was in and though I have been buying at our local store, I was really really keen to get a fresh batch from the farm. So off we went - and I am so glad because we were lucky enough to find some early rhubarb too!! I got a good batch of each and I will be penning down the recipes for both early next week!!

Saboot Moong Dal Pulao | Whole Mung Bean Pilaf (with Coconut)

Right in the middle of all the festive cooking, the deep frying, the sweets, the savouries, isn't it just typical that one should crave simple home cooked food!!!! I have been making festive treats ever since the beginning of the Navratras and all I wanted to eat yesterday was some simple everyday khana (food) - chawal (rice), dal (lentils), dahi (yogurt) - sigh!!

Hara Masala Makai Pulao | Spicy Green Corn Rice

Last night I made this simple Corn Pulao with Gajar Koshambir (Carrot Salad) for dinner. We were just back from a long weekend and craving some good home cooked food. I already had some Arhar | Toor Dal | Pigeon Pea ready in the freezer. So while it defrosted, I decided to rustle up something special as well as quick.This Corn Pulao is a little different, as I decided to add cilantro to the cooking process. This gave it a really fresh and tangy taste which was balanced beautifully by the sweetness of the corn.

Kathal Pulao | Rice with Tender Jackfruit

Kathal or raw Jackfruit is not available in my part of the world. Even Indian stores do not carry it. The only way to indulge any craving for Jackfruit is to get it canned from Asian stores that import it from Thailand. I remember Kathal largely from my time in Delhi. My Mum would get it from vegetable vendors in the Sarojini Nagar market when it was in season. Kathal is not an easy vegetable to prepare, just the peeling, cutting, separating the seeds and removing them from their tough shells is a cumbersome task. This is usually made even more difficult by the sticky sap that oozes out of the peel when it is cut into!! We were kids in school and for us it seemed more like an adventure - to get to the delicious flesh of this wonderful vegetable!! And so the end result was always more than worth the trouble.

Masala Thalipeeth | Mixed Spice Flatbread

Its been really long since I made Thalipeeth at home and I was craving this delicious moist flatbread typical of Maharashtrian kitchens. Several years ago when I was in Pune for a holiday with my parents, I remember strolling down the local market looking for bargains. Hot, tired, and ready for a meal, we ventured into an old-styled eatery that served pure vegetarian food prepared in ghee.

It was just past the local lunch time and the bustle had died down as we entered. We ordered the traditional Thalipeeth which is made with a special flour called Bhajani flour and served with a pat of butter. Occasionally, a vegetable and chutney may accompany this spicy flatbread, and here it did.

At home, I generally make Sabudana (Sago) Thalipeeth, as Bhajani flour is not easy to come by, and I don't have a good mixie. I also like to mix it up and experiment, and make Thalipeeth with other ingredients that I have handy in the pantry.

Ingredients:
11/2 cup atta + more for rolling
1 cup rice, cooked
1/4 tsp zeera (cumin)
1/2 tsp dhania powder (coriander seed powder)
1/4 tsp haldi (turmeric)
1/2 tsp lal mirch (red chili powder)
1/2 tsp chaat masala
Salt to taste
1 tsp oil
Water as needed
Ghee as needed (clarified butter)

Method:

1. Sift the flour, masalas, and salt together in a mixing bowl.
2. Add the rice and oil, rub together with your hands to blend into the flour mix.
3. Use enough water to make a soft dough.
4. Set aside for at least half an hour.
5. Divide the dough into equal parts, each about the size of a lemon, roll into a ball.
6. Place some flour on a work board, flatten one ball of dough onto it.
7. Sprinkle a little flour on the top. 
8. Now using you fingers, rotate the dough as you flatten it further until it is 1/6 " thick.
9. Repeat for all the dough. Heat a griddle. 
10. Reduce heat to medium-high, then place a prepared thalipeeth on it. Cook evenly on each side.
11. Apply ghee on both sides, then place in a warmed tea towel till ready to serve.
12. Repeat for all the thalipeeth.

This version is so yum, I made some extra for snacking on. Cool completely, wrap in wax paper, then foil and store in the refrigerator or freezer. Bring to room temperature or warm before eating. Great as travel food too.

Good to Know:

• Thalipeeth tastes great with a Chutney and Yogurt.
• Here we enjoyed it with Tomato Peanut Chutney: Ver 2.0.

Vegan Substitute: Substitute canola oil for ghee.

All content, text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007 - 2021. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

Moong Dal Khichdi | Split Yellow Mung Bean Khichree

Kichidi - that delicious melange of rice and lentils - is the ultimate comfort food. And moomg dal kichidi comes out at the top. In this version, I have added a tomato and potato to make the dish extra nutritious and comforting.

Soya Nugget aur Palak ki Tehri | Soy Nuggets and Spinach Rice

Here is a really indulgent little recipe for a comfort food I love to prepare in the winter. Rice, spinach, peas in home made (by Mum), Kolhapuri masala, drenched in fresh cream and ghee!! Yumm!!

Phool Gobhi Aloo Matar Ki Tehri | Cauliflower Potato Peas Rice

Tehri is a classic rice dish that comes from Uttar Pradesh. It is usually vegetarian and prepared with rice and some vegetables. These typically include some combination of potatoes, cauliflower, peas, carrots, capsicum, and French/ Green Beans. It is cooked with Khara Masala or Whole Spices including Kali Elaichi (Black Cardamom), Sabut Kali Mirch (Whole Black Peppercorns), Lavang (Cloves), Dal Chini (Cinnamon), and Zeera (Cumin).

Masaledaar Appe | Spicy Mini Appams

Sometimes, when there is extra time on the hand, or we are expecting visitors, I like to make a snack for our evening tea!! Usually, it is something light and salty. At times, its a matter of using the leftovers!!!! Today, it was the latter - I had idli batter left over from the weekend. I decided to make spicy mini-appams using my aebleskiver or appe pan.

Fragrant Tomato Pepper Rice (for the Daring Cooks), Or so I Thought

Olga from Las Cosas de Olga and Olga’s Recipes the host for August Daring Cooks Challenge chose a Spanish recipe, Rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes by José Andrés, a contemporary Spanish Chef. Though I am a great fan of Spanish cuisine and a devoted follower of food trends across the globe, I knew instantly that this recipe was not for me:( Sorry Olga, this is a vegetarian blog!! But, hang in there, I did want to do the challenge, and so I immediately set out to make some creative changes - here is the result.

Kheer for Krishna Janmashtami | Kheer Recipes

Milk and milk products rule on Krishna Janmashtami. After considering some options I decided to go for the traditional Kheer - rice pudding with Saffron and Cardamom!!

Creamy Cucumber Curd Rice

I usually head to the local farmer's market on Saturday mornings. This morning I lingered a little too long there as I got into a really interesting conversation with a local farmer who is growing edible flowers!!!! But more of that a post to follow. While the conversation was both fun and educative, the heat index was not!! And by the time I got home with some really beautiful sugar snaps, zucchini, and cucumber, I knew that I had caught a touch of the sun.