Carrot pulihora

As any other mother I am always trying to sneek-in some vegetables into my meat eater's diet. He loves the plain old tamarind rice or yellow rice or pulihora. So I am startng to make it with different vegetables. Today it is with Carrot and it is super delicious and healthy

Carrot pulihora (Rice with carrots cooked in tamarind juice)

Carrot pulihora

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups rice cooked according to directions
2. 2 cups finely grated carrot
3. 3 tablespoons oil
4. 1 handful each of cashew pieces and peanuts
5. 1-2 tablespoons sliced onions
6. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, asafoetida, salt, turmeric, finely chopped ginger
7. 1 teaspoon each of urad dal, chana dal (soaked for 10 minutes), sesame seeds
8. 1 big or 2 green chillies chopped, few curry leaves, 2 dried red chillies
9. Cilantro for garnish
10. 1 cup of thick juice from 1 lemon sized tamarind

*Soak the tamarind in warm water and get the juice


In a pan heat the oil fry the peanuts for two minutes. Add cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal, cashew pieces and let them splutter. Add onions, ginger and carrots and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the tamarind juice and cook for 5-7 minutes on high till oil floats on top.  Now add rice and mix well. Garnish with cilantro and let it cool a bit and enjoy

Chicken Quinoa Rice

All kinds of grains are getting popular these days. Quinoa is one of them. But you need to know how to cook it else it will taste bitter. The quinoa and rice is one of the sachet foods you can get at Costco these days.
It is so easy to make, that you do not need to buy a prepared packet. You can make it hot and fresh in less than 30 minutes.

Chicken Quinoa Rice

Chicken Quinoa Rice

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup each of quinoa, white rice rinsed under cold running water
2. 2-3 cups rotisserie chicken shredded or 2 cans chicken breasts
3. 1 chicken bouillion

Check how long your rice and quinoa will cook. My rice takes 20 minutes and quinoa 15 minutes to cook. So I made them in the same pot.

In a pan add the rice and 2 cups water and cook for 5 minutes. Add 2 more cups of water and quinoa and cook for 15 more minutes along with the chicken bouillon. Add the chicken and stir to combine. Cover and simmer on very low flame for 5 more minutes. Enjoy

You can add any veggies you want to this pot in the last 10 minutes.

Healthy clam chowder

The first time I had clam chowder in a bread bowl, I had no idea how it would taste. It was in the farmers market in Los Angeles. It was like a warm hug from inside. It was great. But of course clam chowder is quite calorific. And if you try to use less of the  butter, it doesn't taste as good.

The version I made of the clam chowder today, it has a ton of vegetables and it is sooooo super delicious. And on a cold night like tonight, there is nothing better for dinner

Healthy Clam Chowder (New England style Clam Chowder with veggies)

Healthy Clam Chowder

Ingredients:

1. 2 cans minced clams or substitute 1 can with tuna in water
2. 1/2 cup each of chopped onions, chopped carrots, chopped mushrooms, thinly sliced spinach, chopped broccoli...try to cut all the vegetable to be of same size
3. 2 medium small potatoes peeled and diced and microwaved covered for 4 minutes (stir mid way...be very careful)
4. 1 teaspoon each of salt, thyme, minced garlic
5. 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
6. 2 tablespoons olive oil
7. 2 tablespoons butter
8. 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
9. 3 cups milk and 2-3 cups water...hot

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the oil and fry the onions till soft. Add the vegetables one after the other and cook on medium heat for 7-8 minutes. Take it of the pan and set aside.

In the same pan melt the butter and fry the garlic for a minute. Add the flour and continuously stir for 5 minutes. Add the milk and stir to combine. Add salt, thyme and pepper and add all the vegetables along with potatoes, clam and fish. Stir well. Add the water depending on how thick you want the soup to be. Enjoy hot with crusty bread

Here is another versions of Clam Chowder

Egg biryani

                                                   

Its been such a gloomy weather lately, winter just landed with a thud. We haven't seen the sun in 10 days. Its been raining non stop...man it feels more awful as I right it LOL

So...I was craving something hot and spicy and for some reason I wanted Egg Biryani...to top it of, I never had egg biryani in my life. But the recipe I followed helped me make the most delicious rice dish I ever tasted. It will be a regular in my house for sure.

Oh...and the pink spots on the eggs in my dish is because the previous day I used my cutting board to cut beetroot and even though I washed it, the color was still there and it colored my eggs when I peeled and put them on the cutting board

Egg Biryani (Spicy rice with boiled eggs)

Egg Biryani

                                             

Ingredients:

1. 2 cup of  basmati rice
2. 2 tbsp oil
3. A small bunch of  coriander leaves (cilantro)
4. A small bunch of  mint leaves
5. 2 green chillies
6. 2-3 cloves of  garlic
7. 2" piece of  ginger
8. 1.5 cups of  large onions, sliced thin
9. 1 cup  tomato finely chopped
10. 1/2 tsp of  red chilli powder (adjust to taste), cumin powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder
11. 1 cups of  thick coconut milk (optional)
12. 1 teaspoon  biryani masala or Hyderabadi Hara masala 
13. 1 tsp of  ginger garlic paste (freshly made is best)
14. 6 eggs hard boiled
15. 1/4 cup of  cashew nuts and more coriander leaves and mint leaves, for garnish

Hard boil the eggs and keep aside.
In a pan and heat 2 tablespoon oil. Add the cashew nuts and fry until golden. Drain and set aside.

 To the same pan, add half of the sliced onions. Fry until golden, drain and set aside. Add the rice and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add it to a rice cooker and cook it.

 Grind together - coriander leaves, mint leaves, green chillies, ginger, garlic with salt.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the rest of the onions until brown. Add the ground paste and fry for another 30 seconds or so. Or add 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste and the Hyderabadi hara masala and fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Add the spices and powders - coriander, turmeric, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, chilli powder. Add the coconut milk and 1/2 cup water and cook for 10 more minutes on low flame. Mix the masala well. Add the rice and mix well and reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes. Keep stirring occasionally. Garnish with the fried onions, cashew and cilantro and the boiled eggs. Enjoy steaming hot

Chili

I used to make chili on a regular basis but I don't know what happened that made me stop. When I was making chili today I realized I haven't made chili in atleast an year.

Anyway it was nice making the chili. It was like meeting. Long lost friend

Chili (meat and bean stew)

Ingredients

• 1)1 lb ground lamb or beef
• 2)1 can diced tomatoes
• 3)1 can tomato sauce
• 4)1/4 cup water
• 5)1 teaspoon salt, cayenne cumin, ground coriander
• 6)1 medium large finely chopped onions, chopped green bell pepper
• 7)2 big or 4 small garlic pods grated
• 8)2 tablespoon oil
• 9)1 can northern beans or kidney beans

In a heavy bottomed pan heat the oil and add cumin and fry for a minute. fry the onions till tender. Add garlic and fry for a minute. Add ground meat and fry for 5-7 minutes Add all the remaining ingredients and simmer on low heat for 50-60 minutes. Garnish with cilantro , onions and if preferred grated cheddar cheese and serve with grilled french bread