Aloo Poha

Poha or aval upma a common breakfast dish of west as well as south is prepared in various ways to bring in a twist to the plain one.  An ingredient when added or left out brings in a change in flavour as well as taste to the dish.

Sharing with you a recipe which use potato and is commonly known as 'Aloo Poha' in the western region of India. I slice them thin to reduce the cooking time.

This can be prepared either with or without onion and tomatoes, but tastes good in whatever combo you prepare.

The Recipe video is now available in Youtube Channel : Mira's Akshaya Patram. Added below :-

You will need :-

1. Thick Flattened Rice - 1 cup (Jada poha / Getti avil)
2. Poatao - 1 Medium size
3. Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
4. Onion - 1no. (optional)
5. Tomato - 1no. (optional)
6. Ginger - 1/2" piece
7. Green chilli - 2 No. (or as preferred)
8. Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp (finely chopped)
9. Asafoetida Powder - 1 pinch
10. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
11. Salt to taste
12. Oil - 2 tbsp
13. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
14. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
15. Lemon juice -  juiceof half lemon

Soaking the Flattened Rice:-

• There are two varities of Poha (flattened rice) viz white and red one. Red one is more healthier. These two varities are of two types. Thin variety and thick variety.  

• Put the poha on a sieve or soup strainer, show under running tap by mixing gently with your hands. This serves two purpose. One, it gets washed nicely. Second, the moisture absorbed will help soaking the flattened rice (poha). 

• Keep the seive aside for 3 minutes. 

• If required, you may repeat the process of showing it under running water again and place it for 5 minutes. 

• If you are using thin variety then show it under running tap only once.

• While the flatened rice is getting ready, let us prepare the vegetables for the dish.

• Finely slice the potatoes (cut the potato into half. then again cut each piece into two. now slice them)

•  Finely chop Onion, Tomato, Ginger, Green Chilli, Coriander leaves (quick tip for chopping ginger)

•  Heat oil, add mustard seeds. When it start spluttering, add Cumin seeds. After the cumin seeds splutter, add curry leaves. 

• Then add sliced Potatoes and fry till it is 3/4th done

•  Add finely chopped Onion, Ginger and Green chilli. Fry till it becomes translucent

•  Add finely chopped Tomatoes and fry till they become mushy

•  Add Turmeric powder, salt, finely chopped coriander leaves, mix well

•  Add the soaked Flattened Rice (poha) and mix well

• Lower the flame and let it stand for two minutes. 

• Switch off the stove and let it stand for 5 more minutes

• Open, add the lemon juice, mix well and serve hot

Serving idea :- You may sprinkle some sev, fried groundnut on top or use the fried groundnut while tempering.

Rava Idiyappam - quick and easy semolina string hopper

The recipe sounded interesting when a friend shared this recipe. Gave it a try and it came out excellent! unlike the usual rice idiyappam (rice string hoppers), this one absolutely require the least amount of labour.  The friend is non other than Chitra Viswanathan lovingly known and called as CV

An excellent dish for a breakfast or evening tiffin when you want to cook in a jiffy or to entertain your unexpected sudden arrival of guests.  No soaking, No Grinding, No hard labour, No Blunders!!!

A best recipe when you feel lazy to cook for yourself.

Rava Idiyappam / Semolina String Hoppers / Rava Seviyan!!!

 

The recipe is so yummy that even the two 'happy buddhas' are doing a hip hip hurray by raising their hand happily!

You will need :-

1. Rava - 1 Cup (go for chiroti / fine rava)
2. Water - 1 Cup
3. Salt to taste
4. Oil - 1 tsp
5. Chakli press with sev mould (murukku achchu with omapodi thattu)
6. Steamer (I used a idli steamer)

Procedure :-

• Boil 1 cup water (Please note Boiling hot. Not just hot)

•  Put rava / semolina in a big mixing bowl, add salt, mix well.

• Add boiling water to the rava and mix it quickly with a spoon till it becomes a thick dough.

• Add a tsp of oil and mix it again. 

• Place the idli steamer with water on the stove. while it is heated up let us get into pressing process.

• Grease the idli plates applying little oil 

chakli mould with different plates. the last one on the right with many tiny holes is used in this recipe

• Take the chakli mould, put a lump of dough into it. Presse it (with no effort!) over the greased plates into each depression in a idli plate.

• Steam for 5 minutes.

• Yummy, Jiffy idiyappam / ravai sevai ready!

 Serving suggestion :-

1. sprinkle some grated coconut and sugar on top and have
2. have with coconut milk sweetened with sugar
3.  Have with kadalai curry
4. Have with Peas Curry

 

Note :-

1. You can use roasted rava for this recipe.
2. If the water is not boiling hot, it may not turn out the way it has to be.
3. Mix till you get the dough otherwise when you press, it may not comes like a string.

Kadala curry / Brown channa masala / brown chick pea curry

A simple recipe using brown channa (chickpea) which can go well with rice, Chapathi as well as the famous breakfast from God's own coutnry - the 'puttu'.

Brown chickpea is used in this traditional recipe.

I have earlier posted a recipe using coconut. This version is without coconut beautifully infused with the flavour of coriander seeds, roasted cumin and curry leaves.

Things you will need :-

1. Brown chick pea - 2 Cups
2. Onion - 1 No. big
3. Tomato - 1 No. Medium
4. Ginger - 1" piece 
5. Curry leaves - 7 nos.
6. Coriander powder - 1.5 tsp
7. Roasted cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
8. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp (or as per preference)
9. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
10. Salt to taste
11. Oil - 2 tbsp (I used coconut oil as it is a traditional recipe flavoured by it)
12. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

 Procedure :

• Soak chickpeas overnight or for 6 hours. Pressure cook adding salt till done
• Finely chop Onions, tomatoes, Ginger
• Heat a oil in a wok, add mustard seeds and let it crackle. Add curry leaves.
• Add onions and ginger. Fry till onions turn translucent.
• Add tomato and fry till it turn mushy
• Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, roasted cumin powder, red chilli powder and fry for 30 seconds.
• Add the water from the cooked channa and add little more water if required.
• Bring to boil
• Now add the cooked channa and let it boil for 5 minutes on low flame (keep it covered with a lid) to let the masal infuse into it. Switch off.
• Check and adjust salt.
• Yummy and simple kadala curry / brown channa masala / brown chickpea curry is ready!

 

One Pot Pumpkin Curry / Kadhdhu subzi / parangikai curry / maththan curry

Sharing with you another interesting, simple and easy to cook recipe with you. What is so special & interesting about this? 

• I used my 3 lit Pressure Cooker for making this. you can use even 2 or 2.5 litre PC. Cook on low  flame only.
• No water used. No supervision. No stirring in between. 
• Quick cooking process
• Using pressure cooker saves time, labour and energy. 
• Cooking time is 4 minutes. Standing time for the pressure to come down before opening is 5 minutes. So within 9 minutes we can get absolutely delicious pumpkin curry. 
• In this process,vegetable is let to cook in its own juice under pressure cooking.
• Absolutely a pleasure cooking experience. 
• I got the idea of no water cooking in a Pressure cooker from a group called United By Food (UBF) in facebook where members test and post the recipes where I also participate with my recipes. Though we cook vegetables in their own juice in our daily cooking method, for me it happened over a wok (kadai). Using a pressure cooker for the recipe sounded good and interesting. After members tried and posted, i started making the experiment with my cooking and the outcome is remarkable!

Let us get on to feel the pleasant cooking experience.

Pumpkin Curry

I have kept it for little longer time to make it easily chewable for my old FIL.

Ingredients :-

1. Pumpkin cubes - 1 cup (Pumpkin / Maththan / Manjal Poosani / Lal bhopla / Kadhdhu / kasi bhopla)
2. Garlic Pods - 4 Nos
3. Ginger - 1.5" piece
4. Curry leaves - 5 Nos.
5. Red chilli powder - as per your preference
6. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
7. Salt to taste
8. Oil for tempering - 1 tbsp
9. Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
10. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
11. Asafoetida - a pinch

 Procedure :-

• Wash and peel the pumpkin. Dice into cubes.
• Crush with a single hit with a pestle or stone - garlic and ginger. Then with a knife you can easily chop them in seconds.
• Chop the curry leaves finely. (this is to infuse its flavour fully into the recipe and also helps the benefit of this wonder leaf reach the consumer )
• Heat the pressure cooker, add a tbsp of oil (I used coconut oil), add mustard seeds and cumin seeds.
• AFter they crackle, add a pinch of asafoetida powder, finely chopped ginger and garlic, curry leaves. mix.
• Add the pumpkin cubes, salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder. mix
• Close the cooker and put the weight. Cook on low flame for 4 minutes
• Switch off, let it stand for 5 more minutes.
• Open and serve!