Showing posts with label vegetables. Show all posts

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Vegetable Dum Biryani | Vegetable Biryani

Veg Dum Biryani, a delicious one pot biryani made from basmati rice & vegetables and flavored with whole indian spices. Dum cooking means trapping the steam inside the vessel and cook it on low flame. Compared to another version of biryani, dum biryani is so flavorful and delicious.

Traditionally in dum cooking, cooking pot is closed with lid, put on some weight on top to reduce the steam to escape and also put on some hot coal on the lid for even cooking. In home cooking, it's not always possible to add some hot coal on top of the lid, so usually i do skip that part, still the biryani turns out so good & flavorful every single time.

The recipe that i'm sharing today is not Hyderabadi style dum biryani where the rice & vegetables are cooked separately and layered for dum cooking. Here we dump all the ingredients in single pot and do the dum cooking for aromatic & delicious biryani.

Though i like to cook my veg biryani in pressure cooker for easy process, some day if want exquisite delicious rice recipe then my go to method is dum cooking. I like the texture of the rice in dum cooking than any other way of cooking rice.

It's soft and at that same each grain is so separate("uthiri uthiriyaga" as we say in tamil ), it's very hard to achieve in pressure cooking at least for me. If you haven't tried dum cooking, do give this method a try.

No need for any special kitchen tools to achieve dum cooking, do check out the step by step instructions on how to put dum for biryani and also check notes sections for more options.Now let's check out how to make this delicious veg dum biryani.

Adding bread pieces to the biryani

In some Tamil Nadu marriage feast, a small amount of vegetable biryani is served before the traditional meal. In that biryani, a small piece of fried bread is added into it, it truly enhances the taste of the biryani. If you have a chance to eat that biryani, you know what I'm talking about.

Some day, if i had left over bread slices, i do like to add it in my vegetable biryani. White bread tastes great compared to brown bread. Cut the bread into small pieces and then pan fry with a tsp of ghee until golden brown and add into the biryani just before serving, mix well and serve.
The bread pieces are deep fried in the marriage feast, but I prefer to pan fry them.

Vegetable Dum Biryani

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2 to 3
Recipe Category: Biryani | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Mixed vegetable(Carrot,Potato,Beans,cauliflower,Beetroot) - 2 cup
Onion(medium) - 1
Tomato - 1/2( medium size)
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Lemon - 1 tsp
Mint & Coriander leaves - handful
Turmeric powder - pinch
Red chili powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Cloves - 2 nos
Cinnamon - small piece
Cardamom - 1 no
Bay leaf -1
Star anise - 1
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Water - 2 cup
Curd - 2 tbsp
Salt- to taste

Procedure

Soak the rice for 30 mins. In the mean time, cut the vegetables(carrot, beetroot ,potato & tomato) into cubes, slice the onions into thin slices & remove the stem from cauliflower florets. Keep all the other ingredients ready. Heat a thick bottom pan( here i'm using my cast iron pan) with 1/2 tbsp of oil and add half of the onions.

Saute till the onions are brown in medium flame and remove it on the plate, in the same pan, add the remaining oil and the whole gram masala spices(cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, bayleaf & star anise).

Add the remaining onions & saute, once the onions become translucent, add all the other veggies & ginger garlic paste and saute until raw smell of ginger garlic paste goes off.

Add curd, chopped mint, coriander leaves, tomatoes and spice powder(turmeric, red chili & garam masala powder) give a good mix.

Let cover the kadai and let the veggies cook a bit. Once the veggies are half cooked and the veggie masala is bit thick,add the water.

Add salt and bring the water into boil, drain the water from the soaked rice and add into the boiling water.

Give a gentle mix without breaking the rice. Add the lemon juice & cover the kadai with lid and put on some weight to avoid the escape of steam. Keep the flame in low for 10 mins.

Then switch off the flame and let it covered for another 15 mins. Then open the lid and add the fried onions, coriander leaves and ghee on the top. Give a gentle mix and it's ready to serve. If you like to add bread pieces, add it now and let it sit for a couple of minutes before serving.

Tasty and flavorful Dum Vegetable Biryani is ready. For other rice recipes, check out here

Related : Different type of raita recipes

Notes:

Make sure to use pot/pan has heavy bottom otherwise it's easily get burned at the bottom.
Adding ghee at last gives great flavor to the biryani.
To avoid the escape of steam, you can use any weight on top of the lid. If your lid is flat, even pot filled with water works fine for making dum effect.
Don't open the pot at once when the stove is switched off, keep it covered at least for 10 - 15 mins before opening the pot.
Here i have used 2 cups of water for 1 cup of rice. Make sure that there is no water in the veggie masala, if you left with some water from cooking the veggies, adjust the water you add.

Monday, February 24, 2020

Semiya Upma with Vegetables | Vegetables Vermicelli Upma

Semiya Upma with Vegetables, a quick & easy to make breakfast/tiffin with vermicelli and vegetables. Few weeks before, when i had shared this simple vermicelli upma in Instagram, many have requested the recipe, that's when i realized that this recipe is still not in the blog.

It happens all the time, some how i always skip the simple recipe to post here, to be honest, it not even crossed my mind to post such a simple recipes. Guess, it's time to change that habit :-) Like i have already said, it's one of the easiest recipe to make in a jiffy.

Back in Amma's place, she often make this as evening tiffin alone with coffee/tea for a long day or when we feel little hungry in the evening. It tastes awesome with sip of tea/coffee. Do give it a try if you haven't already.

Yesterday the temperature here was above 5c after almost 3 months and it was such a pleasant day to be outside(with all those winter jackets of course :-)). It's really amazing how our body adapts to the environment.

Back in days, when i was newly married, even the Tiruppur cold in December made me sick and had cold & fever for a few days. That reminds me of the quote " No such things as bad weather only bad clothing" . Realized how true is that here in this winter !!! Ok, now let's check out the semiya upma recipe.

Related : How to make Rava Upma

Semiya Upma with Vegetables

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Breakfast/Tiffin | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

Semiya/ Vermicelli - 3/4 cup

Onion - 1/2 (small)
Tomato - 1/2(small)
Carrot - 1(small)

Green Chili - 2 nos
Ginger - 1/4 inch piece

Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Coconut Oil - 1 tsp

Mustard & urad dal - 1 tsp

Water - 1 cup

Salt - to taste

Procedure

Cut the onions,tomato,carrot & ginger into small pieces and slit the green chili into half.Heat the pan with oil, add mustard & urad dal , let the mustard splutters.Then add the onion ,chili and curry leaves and saute till the onions become translucent.

Next add the carrot and saute in the oil for 2-3 mins.

Add the tomatoes and saute till the tomatoes are soft. Then add the water.

Next add the salt & sugar , bring into boil.

Add the semiya (i have used roasted semiya here, see notes at the end for un-roasted semiya),give a good mix and cover the kadai with lid and keep the flame in medium. Keep it covered for 4-5 mins or until the semiya is well cooked.

Finally add the coriander leaves, give a good mix and switch off the flame.

Tasty Semiya Upma with vegetables is ready.Serve it with your favorite chutney. We had it with coriander chutney and coffee.

Related : How to make Idli Upma

Related : More Upma Recipes

Notes:

I have used roasted semiya here, if you have un-roasted semiya, roast it in a 1/2 tsp of ghee till it's aromatic and starts to change color
Roasted semiya gives non-sticky and fluffy upma.
In addition to carrot, beans can also be used in this upma.
Adding sugar balance out the taste, so don't skip it.
Coconut Oil & ginger gives such a nice aroma to the upma, highly recommend to add it.
In addition to coriander leaves, grated coconut can also be added.

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Idi Sambar | Nellai Idi Sambar | Sambar recipe

Idi Sambar / Nellai Idi Sambar, a unique sambar recipe from the city Tirunelveli of Tamilnadu. Idi Sambar(இடி சாம்பார் ) has got its name because all the spices are freshly pounded using mortar & pestle and added into the sambar.

"Idi" in tamil means various things depends on the context, here it means "Pounding spices" and don't confuse this sambar with Idli sambar(இட்லி சாம்பார்) which is mostly used as tiffin sambar.

In our home, we use to make this sambar at least once in a month and we all love it so much because of its intense flavor and taste. Since this sambar is mostly made with a lot of vegetables, many people don't even prefer any side veggies for this sambar. Appalam, vathal and/or vadagam would be enough for this sambar.

Related: How to make Idli/Tiffin Sambar

As the spices are freshly pounded and add into the sambar, it stays good for hours even on hot days. Therefore, this sambar is usually made for a day trip to a temple in our family because many people don't prefer variety rice in our family, so this sambar with rice and some vadagam would be the travel food for our summer holiday temple visits.

In those days, the spices are pounded in ural & ulakkai(a traditional kitchen gadgets used for pound spices), but here in the recipe i have used mixie only for easiness and make sure that the spices are coarsely grounded to get that authentic texture and flavor of the sambar.

For this week of BM, i have chosen the theme as "Regional Cuisine", so for the next three days, i'm gonna post the regional famous dishes from "Tamilnadu". A month before also, i had chosen the same theme and really loved to make and share the less popular regional dishes, so i had picked the same theme for this month also :-). Stay tuned for more regional famous dishes and now let's see how to make this authentic nellai idi sambar.

Related: How to make Aviyal

Idi Sambar | Nellai Idi Sambar

Preparation Time : 20 mins | Cooking Time : 30 mins | Serves : 4
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Toor dal - 1/3 cup
Tomato -1
Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Tamarind - a goose berry size
Mixed vegetables - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
To dry roast & grind
Red chili - 4 to 5
Coriander seed - 2 tsp
Chana dal - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp
Coconut - 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp
Garlic - 3
Pearl onion - 3 or Onion - 1/4
Curry leaves - few
To Temper
Curry leaves - few
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard & urad dal -1/2 tsp

Procedure

First all the veggies into medium size pieces. Add toor dal and the veggies(which takes long time to cook like potato) into the pressure cooker along with enough water and asafoetida powder. Pressure cook them for 3 whistles or until the dal is mushy.

Take all the ingredients for dry roast, first add all the spices (expect coconut,garlic and onions) in a kadai with 1/4 tsp of oil and roast till it becomes aromatic and slightly changes its color, remove from the plate and keep it aside.

In the same kadai, add the coconut,garlic and onions, roast till the coconut becomes golden in color, remove from the flame and let them cool completely. Soak the tamarind in the water for 15-20 mins.

Once the spices are cooled, put it into the blender jar and grind them into coarse powder.

In a kadai, add the extracted tamarind juice from the soaked tamarind and then add the veggies like brinjal and drumstick . Let the veggies cook. In the mean time, open the pressure cooker & mash the dal and keep it ready.

Once the veggies are cooked, add the dal and turmeric powder. Give a good mix, then add the grounded spices and salt. Mix it well.

Add more or less of water as per your liking and bring into boil, then keep the flame in low and let it boil for 5 more minutes. Finally temper the ingredients listed under "To Temper" and add into sambar along with chopped coriander leaves. Switch off the flame.

Tasty and flavorful Nellai Idi Sambar is ready. Serve it with rice and your favorite veggies. We had it with rice, aviyal, vendakkai pachadi & mysore rasam.

Related: How to make Idi Puli Kuzhambu

Notes:

Here i have used potato,broad beans,carrot, beans, drumstick and brinjal.
Instead of adding all the veggies,you can make this sambar with any one or two veggies also.
As brinjal & drumstick are cooked really fast,I didn't pressure cook them.
If the tanginess is more in the curry, add a piece of jaggery to balance.

Thursday, May 31, 2018

Roundup for One Vegetable Different Ways

This is the first time that i'm doing roundup for the BM theme. As usual, this month BM also has some interesting themes and one among them is "One Vegetable Different Ways". The concept is you have to choose one vegetable as main ingredient and cook it in three ways. Really i liked the concept and had chosen "Broccoli" as main ingredients and cooked three dishes. Like me, my fellow bloggers also had chosen the different veggies and came up with some interesting recipes. Here is the compilation of all the dishes that we have shared for this theme.