Indian Vegetarian Recipes

Methi Paratha

hemaragavendra — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:20:00 +0000

Ingredients

Methi (Fenugreek) leaves – 3 bunches
Finely Chopped Onion – 1
Jeera (Cumin) seeds – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Oil – 4 tsp
Red chilly powder – 1 tsp
Garam Masala – 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Lemon Juice – 2 tsp
Wheat flour – 1 cup
Gram (Besan) flour – 2 tsp
Rice flour – 2 tsp

Method:

Clean the Methi leaves thoroughly. Chop it into small pieces.

Heat the oil in a pan; add Mustard seeds. Once Mustard seeds splutter, add Jeera seeds to the heated oil and fry for few moments. Add chopped onions and fry them until the onions are cooked. Then add chopped Methi leaves and 1 Tbsp of water and leave the Methi leaves to cook.

Once the leaves are cooked, add Salt, red Chilly powder, Garam Masala and fry for 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the flame and add lemon juice to it. Allow the whole preparation to become cool. Once it cools add Gram flour, Rice flour and Wheat flour; hand knead properly to make dough similar to that of chapatis.

Keep the dough aside for half hour.

Divide the dough into small balls of suitable size and roll it out and cook like Parathas/Chapati with Ghee.

Serve Methi Paratha with coconut chutney.

Note: If you feel Methi has turned bitter, you can add a single bunch of chopped Palak (Spinach) after adding the Methi leaves to the oil and leave it to cook well.

Jeera Fried Rice

hemaragavendra — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:16:00 +0000

Ingredients

Jeera Rice – 1 cup
Onion (medium sized) – 1
Green chilly – 2-3
Carrot – 2
Beans – 20 pieces
Capsicum – 1
Cabbage – 1/4 of a regular sized cabbage
Oil – 3 tsp
Vinegar – 2 tsp
Soya Sauce – 1 tsp
Pepper Powder – 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Tasting Salt or Aginomoto (optional) – 1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves (optional)

Method:

In a vessel, have 1 cup of Jeera rice. Add 2 cups of water to it. Place this in pressure cooker and leave it until you hear 2 whistles.

Chop the Green chillies into small evenly sized pieces. Chop the other vegetables as well.

Heat 3 tsp of oil in a pan. Upon heating, add green chillies to fry it a little. Then add chopped onions, fry them until the onions turn golden brown. Then add cut beans to this preparation. Fry the chopped beans in the oil for a minute or so and allow the beans to be cooked by placing a lid on the pan. Once the beans are cooked, add chopped carrot. Fry the carrots and leave them to be cooked fully by placing the lid.

Once carrots are cooked, add chopped capsicum, fry the same. Once you are done with frying capsicum, add chopped cabbage to the preparation and cook by placing the lid for 5 more minutes.

Remove the lid to add Salt, Pepper powder, Vinegar and Soya sauce. Keep mixing well with the spoon on low flame for 3-4 minutes.

Add the boiled Jeera rice to the above cooked vegetable combination; mix thoroughly until rice mixes fully with the vegetables. Take care to see that rice is not cooked too much.

Garnish with coriander leaves if you prefer. Serve this with spicy Tomato Sauce (Hot and sweet Maggi sauce is my favorite).

Rice Kheer

hemaragavendra — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:12:00 +0000

Ingredients

Jeera Rice – 1 cup
Milk – 1 litre
Sugar – 1 cup
Cashew nuts – 6-7
Raisins – 8-9
Ghee – 4 tsp
Kesar (Saffron) strands – 6

Method:

Take a vessel, pour into it single cup of Jeera rice. Add 200 ml or 2 cups of milk into it. Place this in standard pressure cooker and leave it till you hear about 3 whistles.

Once the steam eases out from the pressure cooker, remove the vessel from the cooker to cool the rice.

Take a pan, add boiled Jeera rice and pour the remaining milk into it. Also add Sugar and Kesar strands. If you prefer, you may add fresh cream or Malai as well. Stir well till the quantity of the milk reduces. Ensure that the rice does not cook too much. The Kheer is almost ready now.

Take an additional frying pan, pour ghee, add raisins and cashew nuts. Fry until cashew nuts turn slightly golden in color. Add this ghee with the tampered nuts into the Kheer above.

Note:
I have used Jeera rice here since the Kheer tastes lot better with it and the pleasant smell it emanates is ultimate. Jeera Rice is smaller in size than normal rice or basmati rice.

One can use Basmati rice as well but my experience has been that it doesn’t fetch the same taste as Kheer prepared with Jeera rice. Do not use plain rice; Kheer seldom tastes good with normal rice.

Malai-Kaju Curry (Cream and Cashew Nut Curry)

hemaragavendra — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:32:00 +0000

Ingredients

Malai (Fresh Cream) – 4 Tbsp
Ghee – 2 tsp
Chopped onion – 1
Tomato – 2 medium sized
Chopped Green Chillies – 2
Ginger – 1 small piece
Cashew nuts – 15
Red Chilly Powder – 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala – 1/4 tsp
Turmeric Powder – 2 pinch
Chopped Coriander leaves
Salt

Method:

The whole preparation can be completed in a frying pan.

Pour ghee into the pan and heat the same. Add chopped onions, turmeric powder and fry till onion turns slightly golden in color. Then add green Chillies, Ginger to pan and continue frying.

Once the Chillies are done, add chopped Tomatoes to the preparation and fry till the tomatoes become smooth.

Finally add Salt, red Chilly powder, Garam Masala, Cashew nuts and Malai. Cook for 4-5 minutes in the pan. Ensure that you keep stirring while Malai curry is being cooked.

Have this with Kulcha, Nan, Roti, Chapati etc. The dish looks great – reddish in color as seen above.

Note: Use fresh cream. If you use stocked cream the gravy may taste bitter.

Corn and Pomegranate Kosambari Salad

hemaragavendra — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:17:00 +0000

Ingredients

Sweet Corn – 1 cup
Pomegranate seeds – 1 cup
Grated coconut – 1/4 cup
Chopped Coriander Leaves – 1/4 cup
Chopped Green Chilly – 1
Salt
Lemon Juice (optional) – 1/2 tsp

Method:

The preparation is straightforward. In a bowl, mix sweet corn, pomegranate, coriander leaves, chopped green chilly, grated coconut, salt and lemon juice (if needed).

This easy-to-prepare salad tastes great is good for health.

Palak (Spinach) Paratha

hemaragavendra — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:10:00 +0000

Ingredients

Palak (Spinach) – 2 large bunches
Pudina (Mint Leaves) – 1/4 cup
Ginger – 1 small piece
Green Chillies – 4
Jeera (Cumin seeds) – 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala – 1/4 tsp
Lemon Juice – 2 tsp
Salt – 3/4 tsp
Rice flour – 2 tsp
Gram (Besan) Flour – 2 tsp
Whole Wheat Flour – 2 cups
Ghee – 3 tsp

Method:

Wash the Palak leaves and Mint leaves thoroughly.

Boil Palak leaves without adding the water to it for 5 min. You may also bake it in microwave oven for 2 min.

Grind once the Mint leaves along with Ginger, Green Chilly, and Cumin seeds just to have the combination mixed well. Then add the boiled Palak to it and grind it all in the Mixer Grinder until it becomes fine paste.

Pour the paste in a mixing bowl. Add Garam Masala, Lemon Juice, and Salt and stir it a bit. Then add the three flours mentioned above – Rice flour, Gram flour, Wheat flour and knead well and make it smooth dough as shown in the image. Add the whole wheat flour if the dough is too soft.

Keep aside the dough for half an hour.

Divide the dough into small balls of suitable size and roll it out and cook like Parathas/Chapati with Ghee.

Serve with Coconut Chutney or Chutney powder mixed with Curd.

Butter Fruit Milk Shake

hemaragavendra — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:03:00 +0000

Ingredients

Butter Fruit – 1
Milk – 2 glasses
Sugar – 2 Tbsp

Method:

Cut the butter fruit into two pieces; discard the big seed from it. Extract the inner greenish yellow pulp from the fruit with the help of spoon. The green outer covering should be discarded as well.

Add milk and sugar to the Butter fruit pulp and grind it in a mixer grinder. Keep the milk shake in a refrigerator for 2 hr. Serve cool.

Butter fruit milk shake is one of most popular fruit shakes in Karnataka because of its great taste.

Notes:
Butter Fruit is grown in Coorg in Karnataka. It looks greenish and its pulp is almost greenish yellow. You will find this fruit only in the winter season from November to February/March. If the greenish outer cover is turning brown then don’t purchase it.

This fruit is costs a bit, but once you taste this fruit with sugar or prepare milk shake, you will feel like having it regularly. This fruit pulp by itself is tasteless and cannot be had without adding sugar to it.

Carrot Kosambari Salad

hemaragavendra — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:29:00 +0000

Ingredients

Grated Carrot – 2 cups
Moong Dal – 1/4 cup
Chopped Coriander Leaves
Chopped Green Chilly – 2
Lemon Juice – 1/2 tsp
Salt – 1/2 tsp

Oggarane Ingredients
Coconut/Sunflower Oil – 1 tsp
Mustard – 1/2 tsp
Urad Dal – 1/2 tsp
Red Chilly – 1
Curry Leaves – 5

Method:

Soak moong dal in water for an hour until it turns soft. Pour out the water and have the dal transferred to a vessel. Add grated Carrot, Lemon Juice, chopped Green Chillies, Coriander leaves and Salt and hand mix the combination.

Oggarane or Frying in Kadai:

Heat sunflower or coconut oil in frying pan. Add mustard seeds.

When mustard stops spluttering add urad dal, red chilli and curry leaves.

Fry well till the urad dal turns golden brown.

Add Oggarane to the salad combination prepared above. Mix well with spoon or hand.

This health-giving dish can be had with Chapati or on its own like any salad.

Note: You can also add grated coconut to the above combination.

Firni

hemaragavendra — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:25:00 +0000

Ingredients

Milk – 1/2 liter
Sugar – 1/2 tea cup
Badam (Almonds) – 20 pieces
Cashew – 15 pieces
Rice Flour – 1 teaspoon
Kesar (Saffron) – 5-6 strands

Method:

Soak the Badam in warm water for an hour and then peel the brown outer covering.

Soak Cashew nuts in 2 Tbsp of milk for an hour. Drop the peeled Badam pieces into this. Grind this mixture in a Mixer grinder until it becomes fine paste.

Take 1 teaspoon of Rice flour and mix it well in 3 tsp of milk and make it a paste. While mixing ensure you avoid the flour lumps. Keep it aside.

Boil the remaining milk. Add sugar to the boiling milk, let it dissolve and stir for 15 minutes in a medium flame, till it becomes a bit thick and reduces to 1/4th of initial quantity of milk.

Add the Cashew and Badam paste to the boiling milk and mix and stir well and see to it that the mixture does not form lumps. Boil the whole mixture for 10 minutes. Then add the rice flour paste to this mixture and stir for 5 more minutes in a low flame. Add Saffron and stir it till it becomes little bit thick and then remove from the flame.

Serving Method:

Pour the mixture in a serving bowl. Garnish with Cashew, Raisins, and grated Badam as shown in the image.

Keep the mixture in a Refrigerator for an hour. Serve Cool.

Note: Rice flour is added just to become the mixture thick. You can also add the milk cream or fresh malai when milk is boiling. It takes about half an hour to prepare the Firni.

This lip-smacking dessert looks great and tastes almost like milk ice-cream.

Avalakki (Poha) Upkari

hemaragavendra — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 15:09:00 +0000

Ingredients

Paper Avalakki (Poha) – 2 1/2 cups
Coconut grated – 1 cup
Sugar – 4 tea spoons
Green Chilli – 1
Salt – 1/2 tea spoon
Coriander Leaves

Oggarane Ingredients:
Coconut Oil – 2 tea spoons
Mustard – 1/2 tea spoon
Urad Dal – 1/2 tea spoon
Red Chilli dried – 1
Curry Leaves

Method

Oggarane or Frying in Kadai : Heat coconut oil in frying pan. Add mustard seeds. When mustard stops spluttering add urad dal, red chilli and curry leaves. Fry well till the urad dal turns golden brown. Keep the oggarane mixture aside.

Take a big vessel with grated coconut. Add sugar, salt, chopped green chillies, coriander leaves and oggarane mixture prepared above. Hand mix the whole preparation for few minutes until the red chillies are crushed and mix well with other ingredients. Add poha to this mixture and hand mix well again.

Garnish with coriander leaves. The dish must be served fresh since poha can dry quickly.

Avalakki upkari can be had for breakfast or as an evening snack.