Huggi (Pongal)

My father and father-in-law love this dish a lot. A favorite of my hubby too but always needs the tamarind sauce to persuade the kids to eat it. This is served as breakfast in almost all hotels throughout tamilnadu. Raita is served alongwith this in many places but i have always liked this best with the tamarind sauce as served in "KADAMBAMS" in Bangalore. Pongal is an easy option to cook for me when i have less time to spare to prepare a meal as this requires very little time for preparation.

HUGGI (PONGAL):




Ingredients:

1 cup raw rice
1 cup moong dal
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tbsp peppercorns (slightly crushed)
4 green chillies
1/4 tsp turmeric
salt to taste
4 cloves garlic crushed (optional)
1 tsp jeera
1 sprig curry leaves

Method to prepare:

1. Wash rice and dal seperately.
2. Heal 1 tsp ghee in a pressure cooker and fry the moong dal till a pleasant aroma emanates.
3. Add rice and mix well. Add turmeric, ginger and salt.
4. Add 2 and 1/2 cups water and cook for 2 whistles.
5. Heat 1 tsp ghee in a kadai and add jeera. Once it splutters, add garlic (optional), chillies and curry leaves.
6. Add a little water, boil well and mix this with the rice.
7. Roast a little cashews in ghee an add to this for extra taste.

Serve hot with tamarind sauce (hunisehannina gojju). Recipe given below.

Bisi Bele Bath

A very famous Karnataka recipe. This dish tastes very good at MTR (Mavalli Tiffin Rooms) in Bangalore. They serve it with a delicious raita. It is a one dish meal, easy to make and one of my favorites to cook after i mastered the art of preparing BBB. It took me 10 times of trying to get the perfect BBB recipe. Now i prepare as often as once in 10 days and it improves with every time i cook it. My kids like to eat potato wafers alongwith it, for me, i like it as is or with raita. Replace white rice with brown rice and it makes for good diet recipe with all the nutrition of vegetables and very less oil. This is how i prepare BBB.

BISI BELE BATH:





Ingredients: (powder)

2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp urad dal
1 tbsp channa dal
1/2 tbsp jeera
6-7 methi seeds
2 pieces of 1 inch each , chinnamon
2 cloves
5 tbsp dry coconut (grated)
8 dry chillies (adjust this to your taste)

1. Dry fry all the above ingredients seperately and blend it into a powder together. Divide this powder in two portions.

For the BISI BELE BATH:

1 cup rice
3/4 cup toor dal
1 portion of the Bisi Bele Bath powder (recipe above)
1 cup of mix vegetables chopped evenly and washed (carrot, beans, capsicum, turnip)
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1/2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

2. Wash the rice and dal together.
3. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and add the asafoetida, add the vegetables.
4. Stir fry vegetables for 1/2 a minute, add salt, turmeric powder and the BBB powder, stir fry.
5. After a minute of stir fry, add the washed rice and dal, mix well, add 4 cups of water and pressure cook for 2 whistles. Let the pressure reduce and then open.
for the tamarind mix:

2 tbsp thick tamarind extract
1 tbsp jaggery

6. Mix the above 2 ingredients in 1 cup water and bring it to a boil.
7. Add this to the rice in the pressure cooker and mix well.

for the tempering:

1 tsp mustard seeds
2 sprigs curry leaves
2 dry chillies (split, i used the byadagi variety)
1 tbsp halved cashewnuts (optional)
1 tomato (cut fine)
the second portion of the BBB powder
1 tsp ghee
1/4 tsp asafoetida

8. Heat the ghee in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add asafoetida and reduce flame and add chillies.
9. Add curry leaves and the tomato. Stir fry the tomatoes till cooked.
10. Add the powder and fry for 10 secs and immediately transfer this to the rice. Mix well.

You can also add onions for the tempering.

Though the recipe looks tedious with the number of steps, it isn't when you cook it.

Methi Capsicum Rice

I haven't been updating my blog for sometime now since i was in the process of shifting from Bangalore to Mumbai. Now that i'm considerably settled, i'm back to my routines. The best part of Mumbai compared to Bangalore is the greens, fresh and good quality and quantity. The methi especially is not bitter when cooked even with the stalks.The brinjals here are in different varieties and very fresh. The cost is also less comparitively.

I tried this recipe as a one dish meal when i was in the process of settling. Luckily, i found the camera and decided to click away to add to my blog. Hence, the below dish.

I'm sending this to Srivalli's breakfast mela.

METHI CAPSICUM RICE



Ingredients:

2 cups rice (raw rice)
1 bunch methi (chopped fine alongwith the stalks)
2 medium sized capsicums (sliced lengthwise)
2 onions
2 tomatoes
2 green chillies (sliced lengthwise)
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 inch cinnamon
3 cloves
3 cardamoms
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder (dhania)
a pinch of turmeric
salt to taste
1 tbsp oil (you can use oil as per your taste, i like it less since it helps in my diet)

Method of Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add cloves, cinnamon and cardamom and let it splutter.
2. Add onions and once it is translucent, add ginger-garlic paste and fry till the raw smell is gone.
3. Add the capsicum and methi and fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes and fry for another minute.
4. Now add the spice powders and salt, fry for a minute and then add the rice, mix well.
5. Add 4 cups water and pressure cook this for 2 whistles.

Garnish and serve as is or with raita......

Masala Pongal

I call this pongal because of the main ingredient moong dal which is used in this. This is a slight variation of the traditional pongal and it also dry whereas pongal is semi-liquid. A one dish meal on lazy days.

MASALA PONGAL:

Ingredients:

1 cup rice
1/2 cup moong dal
1 inch cinnamon stick
2-3 cloves
2 tbsp grated coconut
2 medium sized onions (sliced)
2 tomatoes (cut)
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp jeera powder
1/2 tbsp pepper powder
5-6 green chillies
curry leaves
dhania leaves (coriander/cilantro)
salt to taste
1 tbsp oil
4 cups of water (the rice i use needs 1:3 proportion of rice to water)


Method of preparation:

1. Wash the rice and dal seperately and keep aside.
2. Heat oil. Add clove and cinnamon, fry onions till translucent. Add chili, ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes.
3. Add curry leaves and stir fry for a minute and then add tomatoes and fry for a further min.
4. Now add the drained dal to this and fry for a minute. Add the spice powders to this and stir fry. Add the rice to this and mix well. Now add water and either pressure cook to 2 whistles or cook it in a rice cooker.