Vegetable pulao

Ingredients:
Basmati rice, raw - 1 cup
Peas - 1/2 cup
[you can also add a total of 1 cup of chopped carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, beans, etc]
Onion, thinly sliced - 1/2 of 1 large
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon - 1" stick
Water - 1.5 cups
Salt - to taste
Ghee - 1 tbsp

Method:
Wash the rice 3-4 times to remove excess starch, then soak in water for 15-20 min. Drain.

Heat a wok. Add ghee. When ghee is hot, add the cloves and cinnamon and sauté for a minute. Add the onions and fry on medium high heat until they start turning golden brown. Add the drained rice and sauté until the grains start to turn bright white. Add the peas [and any optional vegetables] and sauté for 3 min. Add salt and water, bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce heat to low and cook covered until the water is completely absorbed. Let rest for 10 min before serving. Fluff with a fork.

Serve with onion raita and/or gravy of your choice.

Author: Shrinkingsodacan

Jeera (cumin) rice

Ingredients:
Basmati rice, raw - 1 cup
Cumin seeds - 1 to 1.5 tsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp or as desired
Salt - to taste
Water - 1.5 cups

Method:
Wash the rice 3-4 times, mixing with your hand to remove the excess starch. Soak in water for 15-20 min. Drain.

Heat a wok. Add ghee. When ghee is hot, add cumin seeds. The ghee should be hot enough that the seeds immediately start to splutter. Stir well for 2 min, then add the drained rice. Stir well and sauté for a few minutes, until the rice grains start turning bright white. Add salt and water. Mix.

At this point, you can either cook the rice in the pot or transfer to an electric rice cooker. If the former, bring the water to a boil on high heat, then cook covered until the water is absorbed. If the latter, transfer the contents to the cooker pot and cook as you would. Once cooking is completed, let rest covered for 10 min. Before serving, use a fork to fluff up the rice.

Serve with gravy of your choice.

Author: Shrinkingsodacan

Besanwala Chilaca (stir-fried chilaca peppers with chickpea flour)

Ingredients:
Bell peppers, diced into bite-size pieces (not too small) - 2
Chilaca peppers, deseeded and thinly sliced - 6
Chickpea flour - 4-6 tbsp or as desired
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Oil - 6 tbsp
Salt - to taste

Method:
Cut the chilaca peppers lengthwise and remove the seeds thoroughly. Discard the tops of the peppers. This is done to reduce the heat level. Chop into thin slices.
Dice the bell peppers.

Heat a wok. Add oil. When oil is hot, add cumin seeds. The oil must be hot enough that the seeds immediately splutter. Add the bell peppers and chilaca and salt. Stir well. Continue to sauté on a medium flame until the bell pepper pieces start to soften and the skin starts to blister. Make a hole in the middle of the wok, pour some oil in. Into this oil, add the red chili powder. Mix the puddle of oil well, then mix that puddle into the peppers. After a couple of minutes, gradually start sprinkling the chickpea flour evenly onto the peppers. After every tbsp of flour, stir to mix thoroughly. Repeat until there is a coating of flour on the peppers. Continue to sauté for 5-10 min (the flour needs to cook). Add some oil if the mixture seems dry.

Serve with flatbread or rice.

Author: Shrinkingsodacan

Cucumber raita

Ingredients:
Cucumber, grated
Thick yogurt
Salt to taste
Cilantro, chopped (optional)

Method:
Grate the cucumber. Mix some salt into it and place in a strainer. Let drain for 15-30 min. Reserve the liquid. Add yogurt to the drainer cucumber bit by bit, mixing each time until a creamy mixture is formed. Add small amounts of the liquid to loosen the mixture if desired. The final product should not be too watery, so use only as much of the liquid as needed. Taste for salt and adjust. Garnish with chopped cilantro if desired.

Author: Shrinkingsodacan 

Thayir saadam (curd rice)

Ingredients:
Raw rice - 1.5 cups
Yogurt
Milk
Salt
Seasoning:
Oil
Mustard seeds
Udad dal
Chana dal
Dried red chili
Green chilies slit lengthwise
Ginger, finely chopped
Curry leaves
Asafoetida
Cashews (optional)
Cilantro, chopped (optional)

Method:
Wash and cook the rice with enough water to have the grains be somewhat sticky (1:2 instead of 1:1.5). While still warm, transfer to a mixing bowl and pour enough milk to almost cover the rice. Leave to cool. When cool enough to touch, mix and mash the rice by hand. The consistency of the resulting mixture should be paste-like, almost buttery.

Heat the oil. When hot, add mustard seeds, udad dal, chana dal, cashews (if using), green chilies, ginger, and red chilies. When the udad dal starts to brown, add the curry leaves and hing. Transfer into the rice mixture.

Once the mixture is cool, mash the yogurt into the rice bit by bit. Taste and adjust salt. Add more yogurt if necessary. You're looking for a slightly watery result which will thicken with time. Garnish with chopped cilantro if using.

If refrigerated, it may thicken further and dry out slightly. Add more yogurt when serving again.

Author: Shrinkingsodacan 

Saag paneer

A mixture of greens with homemade paneer

Ingredients:
Spinach - 3 bunches
Acelga (Swiss chard) - 2 bunches
Berza (collard greens) - 1 bunch
Berro (watercress) - 1 bunch
Chile serrano, slit lengthwise - 1
Mustard oil - 6 tbsp
Onion, finely chopped - 2 large
Dried red chili - 2
Tomatoes, diced - 4 medium
Ginger - 4" piece
Garlic - 6-8 cloves
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tbsp
Jaggery - 2 tbsp (optional)
Salt - 2 tsp or to taste
Paneer, cut into bite-size pieces - 1 kg
Ghee - 3 tbsp

Total yield: about 3.5 kg

Method:
Frying the paneer
Preheat air fryer at 375 F for 3 min. In the meantime, toss batches of paneer with 1 tsp of ghee each to coat well. Place in air fryer baskets and air fry for 6 min at 375 F. Shake to redistribute, fry for 4 min. Shake again, fry 4 more min.

Preparing the saag
Cook the greens in two batches in the Instant Pot. For each batch, add 1 cup of water to the pot and place the greens cut into large pieces. Pressure cook on high for 2 min, natural release for 10 min, and then manually release the pressure. Use a hand blender to purée the greens.

Heat a pot and add mustard oil to it. Add the red chilies and fry for 2 min. Add the onions and some of the salt and fry until the onions start turning brown. Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for 2-3 min. Add the tomato pieces, stir to coat, then cook covered, stirring periodically until the tomato is mushy. Add the remaining salt and turmeric powder, garam masala, and red chili powder. Stir-fry for 2-3 min and then add a little bit of water. Mix well. Fold in the blended greens and cook on low heat for 5 min. Add the paneer pieces and cook for 5 more min.

Author: Shrinkingsodacan

Besan wala chilaca (chile chilaca stir fried with chickpea flour)

Ingredients:
Chile chilaca - 6-8 large
Oil - 3-4 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp or to taste
Chickpea flour (besan) - 3 tbsp

Method:
Thinly slice the chilaca. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pot and add cumin seeds. When they splutter, add the sliced chile and stir well to coat. Fry for 7 min on medium heat, stirring every minute to avoid the chile sticking to the pot. Add salt and mix well. Add 1 tbsp of oil, stir, and increase the heat to medium-high. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of besan and mix well. Gradually add the remaining besan, stirring constantly. Cook until the raw smell of the besan goes away, and the besan starts to stick to the bottom of the pot. The besan should smell roasted. Turn off the stove. Scrape the bottom of the pot to salvage the delicious roasted besan and mix well.
Serve mixed into rice or with chapatis.

Author: Shrinkingsodacan