Lemon Rice With Green Peas

Lemon rice is a popular dish in India specially in South India. This tangy yellow coloured dish is favourite of many. Few prefer this with onion and garlic. But I prefer this recipe without these.

Ingredients

Lemon large size  2

Fresh Green peas 1/2 cup

Cooked rice. 1.5 cups

Turmeric  1/4 tea spoon

Groundnut (peanuts)  1/4 cup (Read Ayurveda Health Benefits of Peanuts or Ground Nut)

Green chilli 2

Finely chopped coriander  1/4 cup

Curry leaves 10 to 15

Mustard  half tea spoon

Cumin seeds (Jeera)  half tea spoon

Asafetida 1 pinch

Cooking oil 1 table spoon

Salt to taste

Spread rice in a large bowl. Keep a kadai or pan on stove. Add oil to it. Add mustard, cumin seeds (jeera) to oil. When they splutter add chopped chillies, curry leaves, ground nut and turmeric. When ground nuts start splitting , add fresh green peas. Mix well and cook by covering for 2 minutes. switch off stove. Pour this tampering on rice. Add salt, lemon juice and finely chopped coriander . Give this a good mix. Serve with curd rice and pickle. 

Soya Chunks Biryani

Soya chunks Biryani is a very quick and easy recipe. We know soya beans are nutritious and supply plenty of proteins.  The combination of Soya chunks, vegetables and rice constitute an ideal meal for kids in one go. Here goes the recipe

Ingredients

1.       Basumathi Rice – 1 ½ cups
2.       Soya chunks – medium sized ¾ th cup
3.       French beans – hand full (thinly sliced)
4.       Carrot – 1 medium sized (thinly sliced)
5.       Green peas – ¼ cup
6.       Onion – 2 small sized thinly sliced
7.       Tomato – 2 medium sized finely chopped
8.       Mint leaves – ½ cup coarsely chopped
9.       Ginger garlic paste – 1 tea spoon
10.   Green chilli – 1 (slit in middle)
11.   Curd – ¼ cup
12.   Ghee  - 3 tea spoon
13.   Cooking oil – 2 table spoon
14.   Cumin seeds – 1 tea spoon
15.   Black pepper corn – 5-6
16.   Clove – 2-3
17.   Cinnamon – ½ inch
18.   Cardamom – 3-4
19.Bay leaf – 1
20.   Turmeric – ½ tea spoon
21.   Red chilli powder – ½ tea spoon
22.   Garam masala – ½ tea spoon
23.   Salt to taste

Preparation of soya chunks:  Boil soya chunks in water until they become soft. Drain the water and rinse these chunks in running tap water. Squeeze these to remove excess water and keep them aside

Marinating -Add little salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and garam masala to curd. Take carrots, beans, peas and soya chunks in a bowl and add spiced curd. Mix them well and keep aside.

Preparing rice- Wash Basumathic rice in plain water. Add 1 ½ cups of water, little salt and a tea spoon of ghee to it. Pressure cook rice. Take care not to overcook it.

Preparation of Soya chunks Biryani:  Place a woke or kadai on stove. Pour cooking oil. When oil gets sufficiently heated add cumin seeds. When they splutter add remaining spices (15-19). Add onion and fry them till they become transparent. Now add ginger garlic paste and fry it. Add green chilli, tomato, ¼ cup of mint leaves, marinated vegetables and soya chunks.  Mix them well and cover the kadahi with a lid. Cook in a low heat. When vegetables are cooked add cooked rice, remaining ghee and mint leaves. Mix everything well and cover the lid. Heat this in low flame for 3 minutes. Allow the aroma of spices steep into rice. Serve this hot with cucumber raita  or tomato Cucumber raita.

This article is copyrighted. Author Dr.Savitha Suri  at blog http://aahara-arogya.blogspot.in/ . 

Easy Tomato Rice or (Tomato bhath). Variation 1

(serves 4)
Ingredients:

Rice - 2 cups (basmati or sona masoori)

Tomato: 4 cut into small square pieces.(Buy country variety as its sourness adds taste)

Onion-2 cut into thin long slices

Ginger garlic paste- ½ tea spoon

Garam Masala powder - 1 ½ spoon

Green chilly – 3

Coriander leaves – finely chopped ¼ cup

Sunflower oil – 3 table spoon (if you are using non stick wok or kadai 2 table spoons of oil is enough)

For seasoning – cumin seeds (jeera)- 1 tea spoon,

Salt – according to taste

Sugar – ½ tea spoon


Preparartion

Step1 : Cook rice in a pressure cooker. If you are cooking basmati rice the proportion for rice and water should be 1:1 ½ respectively (take precaution to take the cooker off flame after 1 whistle). For sona masoori add water in the ratio of 1:2 (take cooker off flame after 5 whistles).

Step2: Heat a wok (kadai) on stove. Pour oil into it. When it is heated moderately add cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds start crackling add the chopped chilies and onions and roast them till the onions turn golden brown in color. Also add the ginger garlic paste and fry it till it turns golden brown. Add diced tomato and turmeric. Sauté till tomatoes get cooked. Add garam masala powder when tomato onion mixture starts leaving oil. Add precooked rice, salt and sugar. Turn everything well so that the rice gets completely mixed with the tomato onion masala. Sprinkle finely chopped coriander leaves and serve with cucumber raita.