Green Rice

Today I am feeling very happy as I got some time to sit down and write a few recipes for my blog. I stumbled upon this recipe,Green Rice as I was selecting the recipe for today's post. It is an all time favorite at our home because it is an easy one-pot meal and very nutritious. Here is how I made it.

Ingredients

Mint Leaves - 1/2 cup

Cilantro leaves - 1/2 cup

Basil Leaves - 1/4 cup
Green Chilles - 2
Red Onion - 1 (medium sized)
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp

Shelled Edmame beans - 1 cup

Green peas - 1/4 cup

Cloves - 4

Cinnamon - 1 inch stick

Black Cardamom - 2

Bay leaves - 3

Star Anise - 2

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Olive oil - 2 tbsp

Basmati Rice - 2 cups
Salt - To Taste

Method

1. Wash and soak the Basmati Rice for 20 mins and set aside.
2. Wash and grind the mint,cilantro and basil leaves along with green chillies and salt to a coarse consistency.
3. In a non - stick pan add 2 tbsp of olive oil. Once the oil is heated add the cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon stick, black cardamom, bay leaves and star anise. A nice aroma will be released from the spices. 
4. Add the chopped onions and fry till translucent. Add the ginger-garlic paste and cook until the raw smell goes.
5. Now add the ground green paste and the shelled edmame beans and green peas and cook until the raw smell of the greens is gone.
6. Add the rice and cook covered for 15 to 20 mins until the rice is fully cooked. Fluff it up with a fork to ensure that the rice is cooked.
7. Serve hot as it is or with Raita..
8. Enjoy the green rice..Let me know how it turns out..

Notes

• You can use butter instead of olive oil.
• Green chilles can be more or less depending on the spice level you prefer.
• You can use both edmame beans and green peas or either of the two.

**I did not have good pics of the step wise pics. Will upload them soon the next time I make this rice.**

Venn Pongal

Its been a while since I cooked patiently, clicking away pictures and doing things at leisure. Just got back from a beautiful short vacation and still in the holiday mood. DH wanted to have vathakuzhambu. Luckily had butternut squash at home and made it in a jiffy. The best complement to vathakuzhambu couldn't be better than a plate of hot venn pongal. Realized quite late that I had not posted pongal on the blog and was just in time to click a couple of pictures for the same.

Ingredients:
(Serves 2)

Moong dal - Split - 3 tbsp
Rice - 1 cup
Black peppercorns - 1 tbsp
Crushed black pepper - 1/2 tsp
Grated ginger - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - A few
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Green chillies - A couple (optional)
Butter / Ghee - 1 tbsp
Salt - To taste

Method:

• In a pressure cooker or a pressure pan, heat the butter / ghee and once it gets hot add cumin seeds, black peppercorns, grated ginger , curry leaves, green chillies, and crushed black pepper. Then add the moong dal and rice and roast all the ingredients well on medium flame for 3-4 minutes.

• Then add water and salt and pressure cook for 3 whistles.

• Pongal would have cooked well  after 3 whistles. You can adjust the proportion of water depending on whether you prefer it to be semi-solid or solid.

• Serve it hot with coconut chutney , tomato gojju or vathakuzhambu..

• Enjoy the hot and tasty pongal.

Notes:

• Adding green chillies is optional. If you prefer spicy pongal you can add it or you can omit it.
• Addition of crushed red pepper gives it a real pepper taste. You can add it according to your preference.
• You can cube up ginger and add or you can julienne it. Grated ginger blends well with rice and will not be felt while eating.