Achari Tomato Cashew Rice ! Lunch Box Special!

Achari Tomato Cashew Rice was something new I tried one sunday for lunch, but my hubby was working. So packed for lunch that day.

Ingredients
Cooked/Steamed Rice - 1 big bowl
Onion - 1no (thinly sliced)
Tomato - 1no (thinly sliced)
Cashews - Handfull
Tomato Thokku - 2 tablespoons.(click here for recipe)
Curry leaves - few
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Coriander leaves - 1 tablespoon chopped
Spices - 1 bay leaf
Ginger garlic  - 1 tspn
Paneer - 15 cubes (Optional)
Jeera - 1/4 tspn
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tspn(As per your taste)
Salt

Preparation Method
Heat a kadai/wok, add oil, bay leaf add cashews and fry till brown. Remove and keep separately.
In the same kadai, add jeera, onion and fry till brown. Then add tomato, turmeric, red chilli powder and saute till soft.
Add curry leaves and tomato thokku and saute. Add salt and roasted cashews now.
Cook till it leaves oil on sides. Off the stove.
Let it cool a bit, mix the rice. Add salt if required.

Garnish with chopped Coriander.

Delicious Achari Tomato Cashew Rice is ready. Pack for lunch with simple plain curds/yogurt or raitha.

Notes
You can also paneer if you have, it will enchance the taste. I wanted to add but ran out of it.

Tofu Butter Masala ! Lunch Box Special!

Tofu is very healthy since its prepared from Soy Milk. I have been using Tofu rarely at home. This can also be prepared for lunch box with chapathis. I love chapathis for lunch or anytime:-) I have already posted Tofu Masala here and this is with slight variation.

Serves 2 persons
Ingredients
Pressed/Firm Tofu - 1 pkt
Onion - 1no
Tomato - 1 no
Ginger n Garlic - 1/2 tspn
Spices - 1 no cardamom/elachi, cloves/laung, cinamon/pattai/1 bay leaf
Coriander leaves - few sprigs
Dhaniya powder - 1 tablespoon
Red chilli Powder - 1/2 tspn(As per your taste)
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Milk - 1/2 cup
Tomato puree - 1 tablespoon
Kasoori Methi - a pinch
Olive Oil - 1/2 tspn
Butter - 1/2 tspn
Cashews - 4 nos
Salt

Preparation Method
Chop onion and tomato into small pieces.
Grind Onion, tomato, ginger garlic, cashews, turmeric powder, dhaniya powder, spices, red chilli powder, coriander leaves in a blender or mixer into fine paste with little water.
Heat a Kadai/wok, add butter, oil and just toss the tofu pieces and keep aside. 
In the same kadai,add little oil, add the grounded mixture, tomato puree and allow it to boil. Once the raw smell goes.(if reqd you can add in whole spices too at this time in oil)
Add salt, kasoori methi and mix well.
Add milk and mix. When its going to be thick gravy.
Cut tofu into small pieces and add it. Just boil once and off the stove.
Garnish with crushed kasoori methi or chopped coriander leaves.
Top it with 1/2 tspn of butter.

Tofu Butter Masala is ready to pack to your lunch box with chapathis or rotis.

Green Gram, Carrot & Potato Pulao| MW Papad! Lunch Box Recipes!

When Vardhini asked me decide on ingredients to host Dish it out, I was thinking a lot and then when I prepared this for the lunch box, thought of choosing the same ingredients for the event. Here you go with my entry for the event Dish it out by Vardhini guest hosted here @ Sara's Corner.

Ingredients
Green Gram/Pacha Payaru - 1 cup
Carrot - 1no
Potato - 1no
Onion -1 no
Oil - 4 tspns
Ghee (Optional)
Jeera - 1/2 tspn
Rice -2 cups
Pav Bhaji Masala - 1/2 tspn

To grind
Fresh Coriander leaves - 1 cup
Pudina/Mint  leaves- 1 cup
Green Chilli - 2nos
Garlic  - 2 cloves
Ginger - 1" piece
Onion - 1 small
Spices - cinamon, cardamom, cloves 1 each.
Preparation Method
Soak green gram overnite or for 2 hours in warm water.
Wash and cut veggies into 2 inch pieces.
Grind the ingredients above "to grind" to fine paste.
In a pressure cooker, heat oil, add jeera, chopped onion, a pinch of salt and saute till its brown.
Now add the vegetables, a pinch of salt, a pinch of tumeric powder and saute.
Add the ground paste and cook for few minutes.
Add the rice and mix.
Add 4 cups of water. Check for salt.
Add pav bhaji masala.
MIx and pressure cook for 4 whistles and off the stove.

When pressure is up, mix and pack it to your lunchbox.

Microwave Papad

Take 1 papad and keep in MW for 25 to 30 secs depending on MW in medium.
MW Papad is ready to enjoy.

Serve with MW Papad or Tomato Raitha.

Notes - You can also add spices while seasoning.

This recipe is also going to Showcase your Lunchbox Event by Divya and Serve it Pressure Cooked Event by Krithi and Denny.

Brinjal Masala Curry !

Brinjal Masala Curry is a simple and tasty for rice and chapathi. One of the recipes learnt by my Father-in-law. Actually me and my hubby dont like brinjal and now both started eating:-)

Ingredients
Brinjal - 250 gms
Onion - 1 no
Tomato - 1no
Ginger  - 1 tspn
Garlic - 1 tspn
Grated coconut - 1 tspn
Bengal gram - 1 tspn
Mustard - 1 tspn
Turmeric - 1/4 tspn
Chilli powder - 1/2 tspn(As per your taste) 
Coriander powder - 1/2 tspn
Jeera powder - 1/4 tspn
Curry leaves - 6 nos
Oil - 4 tspns
Salt to taste

Preparation Method
Wash, clean and pat dry brinjal.
Chop it into small pieces and put in water to avoid change in colour.
Chop onion, tomato, ginger and garlic.
Heat a pan, put oil add mustard once it splutters, add Bengal gram and wait till its brown.
Add onion, ginger, garlic and saute till brown.
Add tomato and saute. Add brinjal and sprinkle little water for it to cook.
Add all the powders above one by one and saute.
Cook under low flame once its cooked add finely chopped coriander and grated coconut.
Mix well and cook for 5mins.
Now its ready to serve.


Delicious Brinjal Masala Curry is ready to serve. Serve hot with chapathis or rasam rice. This can also be good for Lunchbox.

Don't forget to send in your entries to ongoing event Cooking with Love Grandmom here.

Keerai | Palak | Spinach Pulao and Tomato Raitha Type 1!!!

Keerai Pulao | Palak/Spinach Rice is very delicious and tasty variety rice. I prepared this for lunch yesterday. My family liked it a lot.

Serves - 4 persons

Ingredients
Keerai/Palak/Spinach - 1 bunch
Pudina/Mint leaves -1/2 bunch or 2 cups
Rice - 3 cups
Water - 6 cups
Green Chilli - 3 nos(As per your taste)
Ginger - 2 tspns
Onion - 2nos
Cashews - few(Optional)
Spices - 1 no each(Krambu,Elakka,Pattai /Clove, Cinamon, Cardamom)
Oil - 3 tablespoons
Garam Masala - 1/2 tspn
Salt
Garlic(Optional) I have not used

 Preparation Method
Wash and chop keerai and pudina and keep aside.
Chop onions and keep aside.
In a Kadai, add 1 tspn oil saute the keerai, pudina, 1no green chilli with ginger for 5 to 7 mins. Allow it to cool. Grind it to coarse paste 2 to 3 times in mixie or blender.
Heat a pressure cooker, add oil, put spices and fry. Add chopped onion, a pinch of salt and a green chilli,(at this stage if you want you can add ginger garlic paste) and saute till onions are transparant.
Now add grounded keerai mixture and saute for few minutes.
Wash and add rice, salt, garam masala and mix. Allow it to boil and pressure cook for 4 whistles.
Wait for steam to release and slowly mix. Garnish with cashews.

Serve hot or warm with Raitha.

Tomato Onion Raitha Recipe

Ingredients
Tomato - 2nos(deseeded and chopped)
Onion - 1 no (chopped)
Fresh curds/Plain yogurt - 2 cups
Green chilli - 1no (chopped)
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves - 1 tspn(chopped)

Method
Take a bowl and mix all the ingredients one by one.

Tomato Onion Raitha is ready to serve with the Pulao.

Notes - You can add ghee for flavour with the oil.

This recipe is going to CWS Rice by Reva and Priya. My other entries for this event are Peas Pulao Restuarant Style, Kothamalli/Cilantro Sadam, Vegetable Dum Biryani and Masala Veggie Pulao 

Chowchow Kadale Paruppu Kootu!!!

Chow chow kadale paruppu kootu is a traditional authentic Kerala and Tamil Brahmin recipe. This is prepared for festivals and occastions. I prepared this for Avani Avittam Festival on Saturday. I have posted previously one more version of Chow chow kootu here.

Ingredients
Chow Chow/Chayote - 1 no
Kadale Paruppu/Channa Dal - 1/2 cup
Fresh Scraped coconut - 1/2 cup
Green chilli - 1 no(As per your taste)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn

Talipu/Seasoning
Coconut oil - 1 tspn
Mustard - 1/4 tspn
Urad dal - 1/2 tspn
Curry leaves - few

Preparation Method
Wash remove, skin, seed and chop into small pieces. (You can use the skin for Thogaiyal/Chutney here.)
Pressure cook chow chow, kadale paruppu with turmeric and a pinch of salt upto 3 whistles.
Grind coconut and green chilli to fine paste with very little water.
When the pressure cooker steam is gone. Mix the vegetable and the grounded mixture in a vessel, add salt, tumeric. Mix well and allow it to boil in low flame.It should be thick in consistency.
Season it with the above mentioned and off the stove.

Chow Chow Kootu is ready to serve in the platter as sidedish or mix it with hot steamed rice.

Notes- - You can also prepare this kootu with Pooshinikayi/White Pumpkin. - You can use any cooking oil instead of coconut oil.

Cucumber Raitha Restuarant Style

Cucumber is very cooling and crunchy.

Ingredients
Cucumber - 1/2 no(Deseeded and chopped)
Plain curd/yogurt - 1 cup
Chaat Masala - 2 pinches
Red Chilli Powder - 2 pinches(As per your taste)
Salt

Preparation Method
In a bowl, mix all the above ingredients and Serve.

Cucumber Raitha is a very good combination for Vegetable Pulav/Biryani.

Notes - Since chaat masala has salt in it, check and add salt if required.

Veg. Fried Rice

Veg. Fried Rice is a chinese dish but very famous in India. I had taken snaps last time when I prepared but was so lazy kept on pending to post. Today, I prepared this for lunch and took new snaps of it. Me and my friends enjoy eating in Shanthi Sagar, Bangalore which is a fast food.

Ingredients
Rice - 2 cups(Steamed)
Onion - 1 no
Ginger garlic - 1 tspn(Chopped finely)
Green Capsicum/Bell pepper - 1 no
Yellow Capsicum - 1/2 no
Beans - 4 nos
Carrot - 1/2 no
Cabbage - 1 cup
White or Black Pepper powder - 1 tspn(As per your taste)
Green chilli - 1 no(slit) or Chilli Sauce - 1 tspn
Soya Sauce - 1 tspn
Tomato Sauce - 1/2 tspn
Ajinomoto/Chinese salt - a pinch(Optional)
Spring onion - 1 tspn(chopped) for garnishing - Optional
Olive Oil - 2 tspns(I used EVOO like Rachel's says:-)
Salt

Preparation Method
Wash and shred all veggie into thin pieces.
Heat a wide wok/kadai, add oil, onion, ginger garlic a pinch of salt and saute till transperant.
Add carrot and beans. Saute for 1min.
Add capsicum and saute for 1min.
Add cabbage and saute for 1min.
Add all sauces, ajinomoto and saute till its half cooked.
Sprinkle pepper powder and mix.
Add rice and mix well. Check on salt.
Garnish with chopped spring onion.

Serve with Tomato Ketchup or Gobi Manchurian.

Notes - If you use white pepper, the colour of the rice will be white.
           If you use black pepper, the colour of rice will change to slightly dark.

Masala Veggie Pulav

Masala Veggie Pulav is very different from other Pulav since we ground special masala. This recipe is from my Mother in Law.

For Deco have used Carrot, Tomato and Curry leaves.

Ingredients
Rice - 2 cups- Normal/Basmati
Carrot - 1no
Potato -1 no
Beans -10 nos
Cauliflower - few florets
Green Peas - 1 cup
Onion - 2 nos
Tomato - 1 no
Garlic - 2nos
Vendhaya Keerai/Methi/Fenugreek Leaves - 1 cup(This was leftover leaves)
Oil


For Masala
Kothamalli Verai/Daniya/Coriander Seeds - 1 tspn
Black Pepper - 1/2 tspn
Dry Red Chilli - 2(As per your taste)
Jeera - 1 tspn
Saunf - 1/2 tspn
Cinamon/Cardamom/Bay leaf/Cloves - few

Preparation Method
In a pan dry roast the masala ingredients. Allow it to cool and grind it to fine powder.
Wash and chop all the veggie into small pieces.
In a Kadai, heat oil, add onion, garlic and fry till light brown. Then add tomatoes and cook till soft.
Now add all the veggie and saute. Add salt and turmeric.
Add the grounded masala powder. Mix well.
Add rice and mix. Add about 5 cups of water, salt and a tspn of ghee. Mix well.

Pressure cook for 3 whistles.

Serve when steam is up with Raitha.

This Recipe is off to the following events.

Iftar Moments by Umm

Joy from Fasting to Feasting S3 by Lubna

Colour your Palate - A Visual Treat by Sanyukta

Aadi 18/Aadi Perukku

This is a month of Aadi maasam is 4th month in Tamill Calendar. Its also called Ashada Maasa in Karnataka. Mostly for Kannadigas it will finish earlier then Tamilians. This month is inauspicious for most of us. In this month, many will not perform auspicious events. But nowadays you can see Aadi offer in many shops for clothes and gold.

Today is Aadi 18, we prepare mixed rice like Tamarind rice, Lemon Rice, Pongal and Coconut Rice. Pooja is performed and offered to god as prasadam. 

It also has some important days like

Aadi Amavasai,(9th Aug) - No moon day.
Aadi Pooram (12th Aug) - This day is for Andal Goddess.
Aadi Perukku( 3rd Aug) - This day is 18th day of Aadi dedicated to Kaveri River and falls.
Aadi Karthigai(4th Aug) - This day is dedicated to Lord Murugan. Kavadi is taken on this day in temples.
Aadi Velli (Fridays) - All Fridays in this month is considered auspicious and ladies exchange kumkum and sweets. Sweets are prepared and offered to God with prayers.

This month also has Varalakshmi Vratham.

Now over to the Recipes.

I prepared Kalanda Sadam - Puli Sadam/Puliyogare, Thenga Sadam/Coconut Rice, Elamichai Sadam/ Lemon Rice and Sweet Pongal/Jaggery Rice.

My Recipe for Coconut Rice. This is one of my hubby's favourite rice.

Ingredients
Steamed Rice - 2 cups(as required)
Fresh Grated Coconut - 1 cup
Green chilli - 2nos (chopped)
Oil - 2 tspns(Coconut oil or any cooking oil)
Mustard - 1/4 tspn
Hing/Asafotida - a pinch
Urad dal/Channa Dal - 1 tspn
Cashews - chopped
Curry leaves - few chopped
Salt

Preparation Method
In a Kadai, heat oil add mustard and wait till it splutters. Then add hing, dals and saute till its brown. Add green chilles and curry leaves.
Now add cashews and roast it brown.
Add grated coconut and fry till brown.
Then add salt and rice mix well.

Serve hot with fried papadams and vadams.

Recipe for Puli Sadam/Puliyogare.

Ingredients
Puliyogare dry mix - 3 tspns(My mom made the powder)
Steamed Rice - 2 cups
Gingely Oil - 2 tspns
Mustard - 1/2 tspn
Curry leaves - few
Ural Dal/Channa Dal - 1 tspn
Salt

Preparation Method
In a Kadai, heat oil add mustard and wait till it splutters. Then add hing, dals and saute till its brown. Add curry leaves and saute til it splutters. Now add the Puliyogare powder and off the stove. Serve hot with fried papadams and vadams.
Add salt and rice mix well.
Once cooled add rice and mix well.

You can see another version of this Coconut rice here. Lemon Rice and Pongal here.

These recipes are perfect for lunch box.

Venthiyakeerai/Methi/Fenugreek Sadam/Rice

This weekend has been Venthiyakeerai week for me, picked fresh leaves when visited Little India. Dishes I made was almost with Venthiyakeerai/Methi/Fenugreek leaves like Chapathi, Veg. Pulav and Simple Rice was quite healthy.

This recipe is from my Mom who makes it so tasty. When I use to work before marraige this recipe was mostly prepared for my lunch box since I love mixed/colour rice.

Hope you enjoy too..

Ingredients
Venthiyakeerai/Methi/Fenugreek leaves - 1 bunch
Vangibath/Bisibelebath powder - 3 -4 tspns(As per your taste)
Cooked Rice - 1 cup (1 Alaku)
Oil - 2 tspns
Mustard - 1/2 tspn
Dry Red chilli - 2 nos
Channa Dal/Urad Dal - 1 tspn
Curry leaves - few
Salt

Preparation Method
Wash and cut venthiyakeerai into small pieces.
Heat a wide kadai/wok add oil, mustard wait till it splutters, then add dal, red chilli curry leaves. Saute till dal is brown.
Then add Venthiyakeerai/Methi/Fenugreek leaves and salt. Cook till its soft. Add vangibath powder and mix well. Cook for 5- 10 mins till the raw smell goes.

Off the stove once its cooled. Mix it with rice and Serve.

Venthiyakeerai Sadam can be had as it is or with Raitha.

This recipe is going off to Bitter Better Health by Yasmeen and Divya's Healing Foods Spinach Event started by Siri.

Green Gram and Pomo Salad

Green Gram and Pomogranate or Pomegranate Salad is very healthy. Sprouted grams are rich in proteins and carbohydrates. Pomogranate pearls which is in red colour improves blood and good for health. This salad is very easy to prepare.

Method

Soak 1 cup of green gram in water in the morning. By evening remove water and close with a lid and keep. So by next day morning it will be sprouted. Take half cup pomogranate pearls and mix with sprouts.

To make it more tasty add little salt, season with 1 tspn oil, mustard wait till it splutters the add a pinch of hing and squeeze a lemon.

Green gram and Pomogranate salad is ready to serve. It can be served with lunch or dinner. Also packed in lunch box and munched in breaks.