Tricolor Pilaf with Avocado and Mango Raita

Today's focus is on Avocado. This is another wonder fruit with many health benefits.Its also said that, An Avocado a Day keeps the doctor away.


Some of the health benefits of Avocado :

• Prevention of Breast cancer and Prostrate cancer.
• Good for the health of your Eyes and heart.
• Helps in lowering Cholesterol.
• Prevention of Strokes.
• Known to be a Vitamin E Powerhouse.
• Excellent source of Glutathione which is an antioxidant which prevents aging,cancer and heart diseases.

For more detailed explanation of the health benefits please read here.

Avocado and Mango Raita

Ingredients :

• 1 Avocado peeled and diced
• 1 cup diced mango
• 1 Jalapeno chopped
• 1/4 cup red onion chopped
• handful of fresh Cilantro chopped
• 1 cup plain yoghurt whisked
• salt to taste

Here's a Basic Guide of How to cut and peel an Avocado.

Preparation : I Hope the following pictorial instructions are self explanatory. Just add all the ingredients in a bowl and adjust the seasoning (salt). Raita is ready to serve.

Tricolor Pilaf - Tiranga Pulao

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Basmati Rice
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 1 cup peas frozen
• 1 cup corn frozen
• handful of raisins
• 1" piece of ginger finely chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 4-5 peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• salt to taste
  2 tbsp Olive oil

Preparation :

• Wash and Soak 2 cups of rice in 4 cups of water. You will not need to add anymore water to make the pilaf. Just use this rice with the water. Keep this aside for around 15-20 minutes .
• Heat some oil in a pan . Add Cumin seeds. When they splutter, add peppercorns, and the freshly chopped ginger. Fry for about a minute.
• Add the raisins, grated carrot,peas and corn. Fry for a minute.Add turmeric powder, salt, red chilli powder. Then add the rice with the water which we had kept aside earlier.
• Let this cook uncovered on medium flame. Now when you see that most of the water has dried up (like 85-90%) set the stove to the lowest flame and cover the pan with a lid and cook for about 5 minutes
• Your Pilaf is ready to serve with the Avocado and Mango Raita.

* Its Tricolor/Tiranga because of the orange color of the carrot, green color of the peas and yellow of the corn.

Now its award Time :

I have been showered with this wonderful award from two of my blogpals. Kitchen Queen from Khatta Meetha Theekha. and Priya from Priyas Recipes . I appreciate their generosity and kindness. Do check out their blogs. Both of them have a wonderful collection of recipes. I do enjoy visiting them and If you have'nt done so yet..Now's a good time.

I know this post is getting so long already so instead of passing it on to each of you , my amazing and supportive readers, please feel free to accept this award and spread the happiness by displaying it at your space. Happy Blogging and Have a great weekend.

Curried Lotus Roots with Potatoes - Kamal Kakdi Aur Aloo ki Subzi

I'm Back after a short break for Thanksgiving. Hoping all my fellow blogger friends had a happy thanksgiving. We were visiting some dear family friends for thanksgiving. My friend Shashi made this for me. She's an excellent cook. She was kind enough to let me assist her in making this dish so I could learn it first hand and today I'm going to share this recipe with you. This brings back childhood memories when my Nani (maternal grandma) used to make this dish.

Lotus Roots has numerous health benefits. Its rich in Iron, Vitamins B,C and has great fiber content. It is used in traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. It has a strong physical resemblance to the lungs which explains why it is used to treat various respiratory problems.You could checkout the health benefits here.

You should find this in any Asian grocery store. Lotus roots is an integral part of Chinese and Japanese Cuisine too. This is how a Lotus Root look likes....

If You cut it open , this is what the cross section looks like...its simply beautiful to look at..

Ingredients:

•  2 medium sized Lotus Roots/Kamal Kakdi
•  4 small potatoes diced
•  1 cup chopped onion
•  4-5 cloves of garlic
•  1 small piece of ginger
•  1 cup chopped tomatoes
•  4-5 green chillies slit
•  1 teaspoon turmeric
•  1 teaspoon red chilli powder
•  1 teaspoon Garam Masala
•  Salt to taste
• 3 tablespoon oil and some oil for shallow frying
• 2 tablespoon Freshly chopped Cilantro

Preparation:

1. Wash and peel the Lotus roots. Cut them into thin slices. Place the sliced Lotus roots in water to avoid discoloration.

 2. Now heat some oil in a Kadai or skillet and shallow fry the sliced lotus roots for about 6-8 minutes until they turn golden brown. Add the diced potatoes and fry for another 2 minutes.

3. Make a puree of onion, ginger and garlic. Also make another puree of the tomatoes. Heat oil in a pan or a pressure cooker. Add the onion/garlic/ginger puree and saute till golden brown. Add the tomato puree and saute till the oil leaves the masala.

 4. Next add turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Add the stir fried lotus roots and potatoes. Season with salt and add garam masala. Mix well.

5. Add around 2 cups of water and pressure cook ( 2 whistles) or cook covered until cooked for around 15-20 minutes.

6. Garnish with Cilantro and serve with Parathas, Phulkas or any Indian bread of your choice.

Adraki Dal

There can never be Too much of Ginger . I just love ginger in everything. Even my tea has little bit of freshly crushed or grated ginger. So that led me to make this Adraki Daal/Dal.

Ingredients:
1) 1 cup Dhuli Urad Dal
2) 1 cup tomatoes chopped
3) 5-6 green chillies slit
4) 1/4 cup ginger cut into juliennes
5) 2 tablespoon Cilantro/Coriander chopped
6) 1/2 teaspoon Cumin seeds
7) 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
8) 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
9) 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
10) Salt to taste
11) 2 tablespoon butter/ghee
12) 2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preparation:
1. Wash the dhuli Urad dal in a pressure cooker and add 4 cups of water ,turmeric and Salt. Pressure cook for about 4 whistles or until Dal is cooked. If you do not own a pressure cooker you could boil this dal covered with 6 cups of water until cooked. Pre soaking this dal for atleast 1/2 hr will reduce the time to boil this dal.
2. Heat butter or ghee in a thick bottom pan or Kadhai. Add cumin seeds. When they crackle add ginger and fry for about 2-3 minutes and then add tomatoes and green chillies. Fry for about 2-3 minutes.
3. Now add red chilli powder , garam Masala and fresh cilantro and keep frying till the oil leaves the masala.
4. Add the boiled dal .Add lemon juice and it simmer for about 3-4 minutes.
5. Ready to serve. This dal goes well with any Indian Bread - Parathas, Naan,Kulcha, Phulkas.

The consistency is intended to be a little thick. You could always add a little more water and make it to the desired consistency.That way it could be enjoyed with rice as well.

Jhatpat Raita - Vegetable Raita

This is a super duper Easy recipe. This raita can be prepared in minutes.

In today's recipe the main ingredient is Yoghurt . Its also know as Curds or Dahi. Yoghurt has many health benefits which makes it a dietary staple in many countries including India.

Yoghurt is rich in Calcium, Potassium, Iodine, Phosphorus, Vitamins B2, B5, B6, B12 and protein. Its truly a wonder food.

Yoghurt prevents osteoporosis, reduces hypertension, boosts your immune system, prevents yeast infections, helps cure ulcers and helps your digestive system. It even cures bad breath. Also we have our age old remedies where yohurt is used to treat many skin and hair problems.

Ingredients:
1) 2 cups yoghurt
2) 1 cup finely chopped onion
3) 1/2 cup finely chopped cucumber
4) 1/2 cup finely chopped tomato
5) 2 tablespoons finely chopped Cilantro
6) 2 green chillies finely chopped
7) Raita Masala or Chat Masala to taste.

Preparation:
1) Whisk the yogurt in a bowl and add onions, tomato , cucumber and green chillies. Mix it well.
2) Season with Raita/Chat Masala/Salt. Garnish with Cilantro.
2) Ready to serve.

You can serve this with Biryani, Pulao or any spicy non-vegetarian food . You could serve this with Parathas too.

Ajwain Paratha

Paratha is an Indian flat-bread. It could be round, square or triangular. They could be plain or stuffed. Mostly stuffed parathas are served with pickle and yoghurt. Plain parathas could be served with vegetables , meat, chicken and paneer dishes. The sky is the limit when it comes to parathas. They are very versatile. One can be very creative when it comes to making stuffed parathas. You can have endless possibilities. But I guess by and large aloo(potato) parathas are the most popular.
Ajwain is also known as carom seeds or Bishop's weed and they are mainly used as they help in digestion.


Ingredients :

3 cups wheat flour

2 tsp ajwain

salt

1 tsp oil

1 cup of water (to knead the dough)

Preparation

1) Mix all the ingredients and knead the dough for the parathas. Now for someone who is trying to knead the dough for the 1st time. Slowly add the water to the mix and keep on kneading. Keep on adding water till the dough is not too sticky or not too hard. You would need a little more than 1 cup of water. But if you add too much water the dough would be too sticky to roll the parathas.

Now keep it aside for 15-20 minutes.

2) Now to roll the parathas. Divide the dough into golf size balls. Roll it into a small circle. Apply some oil to the circle. Now fold the circle into a semicircle. Fold it again and it would become a triangle shape. Apply some flour and roll over the triangle gently to the desired size.

3) Heat a tava( griddle) and roast the paratha on medium heat with ghee , oil or butter. Cook on both sides until they are golden brown.

4) Serve hot with yoghurt and pickle or as an accompaniment to a main course dish. This would make around 10 -12 parathas.