Moong Dal Khichdi

  A simple and an easy to make rice dish which tastes best with Mint Chutney. I often make it for lunch or breakfast.

THE KHICHDI

INGREDIENTS:        

•  1 cup rice
•  2 tbsp oil
•  1/4 cup yellow mung dal
•  ½ tsp turmeric powder
•  1/2 tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
•  1 Cardomom
•  2 Cloves
•  1 small Cinnamon piece
•  1/2 Onion Sliced
•  1 hand Coriander Leaves chopped finely
•  6-8 Mint Leaves
•  2 Green Chillies Slit
•  Salt to taste

HOW TO MAKE:

1.    Wash rice and soak in water for 15-20 minutes.

BASMATI RICE

2.    Now take a kadhai/wok and heat oil in it. Add the cinnamon,cardomom,cloves. 

CLOVES,CARDOMOM & CINNAMON

3 .   Add the sliced Onion and fry till onion turns pink/light brown.  



SLICED ONION

3.    Next add ginger garlic paste and Turmeric powder and salt. Stir and mix well.

GINGER-GARLIC PASTE



TURMERIC POWDER

4.    Add the Moong dal and fry it for 1-2 minutes.

MOONG DAL

5.    Add the Mint leaves, Green Chillies and Coriander leaves. Fry them for a minute.



CORIANDER LEAVES

6.    Add the rice and fry in the Khichdi mix for a minute and then add 2 cups water and bring to boil

7.    Reduce the flame and let the rice cook slowly till done and dry.



THE KHICHDI

Serve with Mint Chutney or Tomato curry for a tasty meal.

RATING NOTES:

                    DIFFICULTY LEVEL      :     Easy

                    RATING POINTS             :     9/10 **

**     For a tasty Khichdi, preferebly use Basmati Rice. Do not overcook the rice.

        Always cook the Khichdi a bit oily than dry.

                   

Diary Updates

Well, as you have noticed I have been posting recipes lately and its been a while since I updated my blog diary.
 

So what have I been upto these days?

Plenty!!!

With a long and bright weekend, I have returned to work with a lot of spirit and energy. Unlike the lethargic week I spent previously, I find myself zestful and lively.

How did I get this change in myself ? Its very simple.

I slept soundly with no tensions of waking up early and I did not set my alarm clock to awaken me. 

I rested more and cooked less.

I watched movies and I shopped .

I went about with my routine chores with no time limit.

I browsed and browsed and used my best buddy on the internet - FACEBOOK extensively.

I read a novel which made me feel light and joyful.

In short, I did all that I wanted to and made myself merrier and zingy. Not to forget, hubby had been a remarkable company to me in the weekend. The weekend days slipped silently and quickly.

Reading the novel had been very refreshing as it cleared my mind and cheered me thoroughly. A romantic thriller is what I call it and it was an 1886 story of a beautiful girl from a rich family of Virginia camouflaged as a guy and going into hiding from a couple of men who are the murderer's of her parents. She seeks harbour in a small farm in North Dakota and falls in love with the owner of the farm and eventually marries him. The killers are later trapped and imprisoned to mark the end of the story.

The story ran for 337 pages and I was so absorbed into it that I forgot the world around me. I felt as if I have been briefly pulled into a wonderland and have been working like a farmhand.

Talking about the blog, as you all must have noticed the RATING NOTES added in each of the recipe I posted, I have Rating Points also mentioned in it. I have been rating my performance of the recipe on a scale of 10 and this is how I categorise the points:

1-3 ----------- POOR

         This means that the dish tasted bad, is not cooked well and is not liked by my family.
 

4-5 ----------- AVERAGE

         This means that the dish has potential but is not cooked well.
 

6-7 ----------- SATISFACTORY

          This means that the dish is cooked well, but can be improved.
 

8-9 ----------- GOOD

          This means that the dish is cooked well, it is liked by my family and can also be improved and altered.
 

10------------- EXCELLENT

           This means that the dish is perfectly cooked. Its Delicious!!!

The Comments that I add below the rating notes indicate the stages of the recipe you need to be attentive in order to avoid a mess or bring in perfection and appeal.

More updates for my diary will be added as the days pass by.

 

Oats Cutlets

 Ingredients:

Oats Cutlets

• 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder

• 1/4 tsp Dry Mango Powder
• 1 cup Oats
• 2 Potato (boiled & mashed)

• 1 cup Bread Crumbs

• 2 tbsp Corn Flour

• 1/4 cup Paneer (grated)

• 2 tbsp Coriander Leaves (chopped)
• 2 tbsp Carrot (grated)
• 1/4 tsp Lemon Juice

• Salt as per taste

How to make Oats Cutlets:

•Add the entire ingredients with one cup of oats.  



Oats






Boiled Potatoes

 

Mashed Potatoes

  

Paneer - Cottage Cheese





Bread Crumbs and Coriander Leaves

 

•Mix it well with water to get the desired consistency. Make 8-10 tiny balls of the mixture. Flatten each ball to get an oval or round shape.

•Take a bowl, add water and corn flour and make them into a thin paste. Now dip each cutlet into the corn flour paste and then roll them on the bread crumbs.



Rolling the Cutlets in the bread crumbs



•Grill or shallow fry them for about 20 minutes approximately.



Shallow frying in the Skillet



Grilling the Cutlets

•Serve them hot.



Oats Cutlets



RATING NOTES:

                           DIFFICULTY LEVEL  :  EASY

                           RATING POINTS        :  8/10 **

** See to it that the potatoes are mashed very evenly in order to avoid breaking or splitting of the cutlets while frying

 For well cooked cutlets, shallow or deep fry them on low flame.

Aloo-Methi Paratha (Potato-Fenugreek Paratha)

 Ingredients

The delicious Aloo-Methi Paratha



For the dough:

3/4 cup Whole Wheat flour

1/4 cup all pupose flour (maida)

1 tsp oil

salt to taste

For the methi aloo stuffing :

1 cup finely chopped fenugreek (methi) leaves or Kasoori Methi
1 cup boiled and mashed potatoes
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2 tsp green chilli chopped

3 tsp finely chopped coriander leaves

1/2 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
2 tsp chaat masala
2 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Other ingredients:

Maida flour for rolling
Oil for cooking

Makes 4 Parathas

How to Make:

For the filling:

Mix together the mashed potatoes, Fenugreek leaves (or Kasoori Methi) ,Chaat masala, Chilli powder, Turmeric Powder, Salt, Cumin Seeds, Coriander leaves, Green chillies. Keep it aside.

 

Fresh Methi Leaves

 

Potatoes

Chopped Coriander Leaves



Green Chillies



Kasoori Methi



Boiled and Mashed Potatoes mixed with Methi, Coriander leaves

 

The Aloo Methi filling mix



 

For the Dough:

 

In another bowl, mix the 2 flours together with water and oil. And knead the dough as for a normal parantha.

The mixed Dough

For the Parathas:

Make 8 small flat rounds and roll out very small chapathis (the size of your palm).

The dough to be rolled out

Small Palm sized Chapathis

Take some filling and place in the centre of any 4  flattened chapathis. 



Filling placed on the chapathi

Place each of the other 4 chapathis on the filling and flatten lighlty the edges with your hand and continue rolling out each one to make a paratha .

The 2 chapathis sandwiching the filling

Roll out as thinly as you can without tearing. 

The Rolled Paratha

Roast the paranthas on a skillet with some oil till crisp and lightly browned on both sides.



Roasting the Paratha with Oil on a Skillet

The delicious Aloo-Methi Paratha

RATING NOTES:

              DIFFICULTY LEVEL  :  Easy

              RATING POINTS        :    8/10 **

**  To get soft Parathas, see to it that the dough is soft but not sticky.

      Roll out the Parathas thin and evenly .

      



Onion Raita

Onion Raita is a simple yogurt preperation with chopped/sliced onion and finely chopped coriander leaves. It is served as a side dish with the Biryani. A very simple, tasty and its an easy to prepare dish with very little effort.



ONION RAITA

Ingredients:

Plain Yoghurt- 1 cup
Finely chopped onion- 2 tablespoons
Finely chopped tomatoes- 1 tablespoon (Optional)
Green chilies- 1 (finely chopped)
Chopped coriander leaves - 1 tsp
Cumin powder- 1/8 tsp ( optional)
Salt

How to make:

Whisk the yoghurt with little water.

WHISKED YOGURT

Add onion, tomato & green chili. Season with salt and cumin powder. Garnish with chopped coriander.

CHOPPED CORIANDER LEAVES

GREEN CHILLIES



ONION RAITA

Note: You can enhance the taste of the onion raita by sprinkling some grated carrot on it or by adding a teaspoon of pomegranate in it or some chopped cucumber also.

RATING NOTES:

           DIFFICULTY LEVEL : Very Easy

          RATING POINTS        :  9/10

     *** Blend the yogurt evenly with little water before adding the onions and coriander leaves.