Vegetable khichdi [ Handi khichdi ]

Ingredients :

• Basmathi rice - 1 cup
• Mix dhal [ soaked ] - 3 / 4 cup
• Cauliflower florets - 1 / 2 cup
• Potato cubes - 1 / 2 cup
• Chopped onions - 1 / 4 cup
• Finely chopped coriander leaves - little
• Salt - as required
• Turmeric powder - 1 / 2 tsp
• Dhania - jeera powder - 1 tsp
• Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Green chilli, ginger, garlic paste - 1 / 2 tsp
• Clove - 1 or 2
• Cardamom - 2
• Bay leaf - 1
• Cinnamon - small piece
• Dhania chopped - 2 tbl.sp [ for garnish ]

Method :

Clean, wash and soak rice and dhal for 15 minutes. Drain and keep aside. Combine together cauliflower, potatoes, onions,coriander, turmeric, coriander-cumin seed powder, chilli powder, ginger-green chilli paste, garlic paste, clove, cardamom, bayleaf, cinnamon and salt in a cooker or handi and mix well. Add the rice, dhal to the vegetable mixture and mix gently and keep aside to marinate for 30 minutes. Put 3 cups of water to boil, pour in to the cooker and close the lid and wait for 4 whistle to come. Otherwise pour the water to the handi, mix well and cover and cook on a medium flame for 30 minutes or till the rice and dhal gets cooked. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with pickle, and wafer.

Wheat [ lapsi ] kesari

Ingredients :

• Broken samba wheat [ lapsi ] - 1 cup
• Finely grated white jaggery - 1 1 /4 cup
• Water - 4 cups
• Chopped nuts - as required
• Ghee - 3 tbl sps.
• Cardamom powder - 1 / 2 tsp

Method :

Fry lapsi in 1 tbl sp ghee till nice aroma comes. Heat jaggery with water till it is dissolved completely.  Then remove from the fire and strain through a fine sieve to remove dirt.  Then mix lapsi, remaining  ghee, cardamom powder and jaggery syrup and cook it in the pressure cooker. Wait for 2 whistle to come. Allow it to cool, mix well, and add fried nuts. If you need add more ghee. Your tasty easy lapsi kesari is ready to serve.

Mixed vegetable raitha

Ingredients :

• Grated carrot - 1 cup
• Grated cucumber - 1 cup
• Green chillies - 2 [ finely chopped ]
• Beaten curd - 2 cups
• Salt - as required
• Turmeric powder - 1 / 2 tsp
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Fenugreek powder - 1 / 4 tsp

For seasoning :

• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 / 2 tsp

Method :

Grate carrots and cucumber. Chop green chillies and coriander leaves. Beat curds with salt and little turmeric powder. Heat oil and fry mustard seeds, a pinch asafoetida powder and cumin seeds. Add it to curds with a pinch fenugreek powder. Mix in grated vegetables and serve. 

Orange Pulav

Ingredients :

• Basmathi rice - 1 cup
• Ripe oranges - 3 [ loose jacketed ]
• Green grapes - 1 / 4 cup [ seedless ]
• Cashewnuts - 1 handful
• Coconut milk - 1 cup
• Cardamoms - 2
• Cinamon - 1 inch piece
• Bay leaf - 1
• Orange colour - a pinch
• Onions - 2 [ cut in to lenth wise ]
• Green chillies - 4 to 5 [ slit ]
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 / 2 tsp
• Ghee or oil - 4 tbl sps
• Coriander leaves - little

Method :

Wash and soak rice for 30 minutes. Cut onions and green chillies lengthwise. Peel one orange and keep separately. Take juice from other two oranges and strain to remove seeds. Heat ghee or oil in pressure pan and fry gram masala spices, green chillies and then onion. Add ginger garlic paste and rice. Fry for 2 minutes. Mix orange juice with coconut milk and make it up as two cups with enough water. Boil this separately and pour over rice with enough salt, and colour. Mix gently, reduce flame, and pressure cook for 10 minutes. After removing from gas, mix fried cashewnuts, orange segments, grapes and cut coriander leaves. Serve with mixed vegetable raitha.

Vengaaya chutney

Ingredients :

• Peeled small onions - 1 cup
• Red tomato - 1 big [ cut into small pieces.
• Red chillies - 10
• Salt - as required
• Sugar or jaggery - 1 tsp
• Tamarind paste - 1 tsp
• Oil - 2 tbl. sps.

Method :

Heat oil in fry pan and  fry red chillies, onions, tomato till golden brown.  Then grind in mixer along
with tamarind, salt and sugar or jaggery. Your yummy gvengaaya chutney is ready.

Sponge dosai [ bun dosai )

  Ingredients :

• Raw rice - 3 cups
• Rice flakes [ aval ] - 1 cup
• Black gram [ whole ]  - 1 / 2 cup
• Fenugreek seeds - 1 tbl.sp
• Salt - as required
• Oil or ghee - enough for frying

Method :

Wash rice and rice flakes separately without mud and then soak them together for 4 to 5 hours. Soak dhal, fenugreek together. Then grind it  to smooth paste, with salt. Allow to ferment till next day morning. Heat  a tawa and pour thick dosa. [ do not spread ]. Put little ghee or oil  around and close with a lid. Cook in medium flame for few minutes till there is no raw batter on top of the dosa. Do not turn over, serve hot with coconut chutney or vengaaya chutney.

Dry jamun [ sweet ]

Ingredients:

• Maida - 1 1/2 cups [ heaped ]
• Fine rawa - 1 tbl spn
• Saffron - few
• Rose water - 1 tsp
• Resins [Kismis] - 1 tbl spn
• Milk powder - 1 tsp
• Fresh thick curds - 1/4 cup
• Ghee - for frying
• Small sweet  boondhi - little [ for garnishing ]

For syrup:

• Sugar - 1 1/2 cup
• Water - 3/4 cup

Method:

Mix maida, milk powder and rawa together. Heat saffron over a hot bowl and then crush it. Whip curds and mix with flour to form a dough. Keep it closed for 1/2 an hour. Then make small balls with kismis inside. Deep fry few balls at a time [in medium flame] in hot ghee till it becomes golden brown. Then prepare sugar syrup on one string consistency [ thick string ]. Add crushed saffron to this. Add fried jamuns to the hot syrup. Take out from syrup after an hour and keep on a flat plate. Sprinkle rose water on top. Garnish with sweet boondhi.