Green Moong and Mixed Veggie Pulao

I love cooking one pot meals the reason being very obvious – healthy and quick. So here is yet another healthy and nutritious one pot meal that gets ready in minutes – Moong Dal and Mixed Veggie Pulao.

A well balanced vegetarian meal should always have a rice, dal and veggies combo, (Carbohydrates, Proteins and Vitamins) which is fulfilled by this dish. All this sounds very good, but how many of our kids have rice and dal when given as such? At least my daughter can’t even stand the sight of the regular yellow dal. Now with this recipe at hand, I know how to sneak in my dal and veggies. This pulao was a super hit with both my daughter and H. It is a perfect healthy lunch box recipe and is a keeper for me. Now to the recipe:

Serves: 3 to 4

What you’ll need:

1. Basmathi Rice - 1 ½ cups
2. Whole Green Moong – ¾ cup
3. Carrot – 1 medium
4. Potato – 1 medium
5. Fresh or Frozen Green Peas – a handful
6. Onion – 2 Medium
7. Tomatoes – 2 to 3 Medium

For Grinding

1. Ginger – a small piece
2. Garlic – 3 to 4
3. Green chilles – 2 to 3
4. Scraped Fresh coconut – 1 tblsp
5. Fresh Coriander Leaves – a small bunch

For Seasoning

1. Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
2. Bay Leaf – 1
3. Cloves – 2
4. Elaichi – 2
5. Cinnamon – a small piece
6. Cashewnuts - a few
7. Oil and ghee – 1 tbsp

Method

Soak the whole moong for 3 to 4 hours. Grind the items mentioned under to grind to a fine paste without adding water. Wash, peel and chop the veggies into cubes. Wash and drain basmathi rice.

Heat a pressure cooker with the oil and ghee. Add the items mentioned under (for seasoning). Fry for a minute. Now add the sliced onions and fry till onions turn light brown. Next add the chopped tomatoes and fry till they are soft. Next add the veggies one after the other and sauté for another minute. Now add the ground paste and fry for about 2 minutes on medium heat. Next add the soaked moong and the rice. Saute for about 2 minutes or till all the moisture is evaporated. In the meanwhile, boil about 2 ¼ cups of water. Add the boiling water to the rice and veggies as soon as the moisture is evaporated. Now add salt to taste Stir well and cook covered for about 2 whistles.

Healthy and tasty Moong dal pulao is ready. Serve with a raita of your choice.

Notes

1. Though I did not have the time to sprout my moong, feel free to use the sprouted one too.
2. You can use other vegetables like, French beans, cauliflower or capsicum.

Some Useful Tips

1. Always soak any kind of legume for at least 20 to 30 minutes in warm water to get complete benefit out of it.
2. Always drain the water in which the legumes are soaked, wash it again and use fresh water for cooking. It is said that legumes leave out some toxins upon soaking.

Sending this to Smita’s Healthy Cooking Challenge hosted Anamika and to Susan’s MLAA 38 hosted by Preeti

Garlic Mushroom Rice

This is the 2nd week of blog hopping an event started by Radhika and this time I found myself in Priya Mahadevan’s space: Now Serving. I am always amazed at her innovativeness. With a few ingredients at hand she creates wonderful dishes. Many of her dishes caught my eye like the Almond Cashew Falafels, Hanuman Vadai,Cocktail Veggies and Paneer hor d’oeuvres.

I decided to try out this simple yet flavorful and delicious rice from her space. Mushrooms are liked well by my daughter and hubby, also I tend to prepare a lot of flavored rice varieties for my kiddos and H’s lunch box and hence the choice. By the time I finished making the rice; my daughter had come a dozen times and checked if it was ready. All of us simply loved it. This recipe is going to be a regular at my place. You can find the original recipe here.

Serves: 3 – 4

What you’ll need:

1. Basmathi Rice – 2 cups
2. White Button Mushrooms – 10 to 12
3. Garlic – 4 to 5 cloves
4. Green Chillies – 2 to 3
5. Tomato – 2 medium
6. Spring Onions – 4 to 5 stems
7. Black Pepper Powder – ½ tsp
8. Turmeric Powder – a pinch
9. Salt to taste
10. Oil – 2 tsps

Method

Cook rice separately, cool and keep it aside.

Chop the spring onions, green chillies and garlic. Slice the mushrooms. Puree the tomatoes.

Heat a Kadai with oil, add the chopped garlic and sauté for a minute. Next add in the chillies and spring onions. Fry till the onions turn pink. Now add the sliced mushrooms and turmeric powder. Fry till the mushrooms are done. Now add the tomato puree and stir well for few minutes or till the puree is almost absorbed. Now add the cooked rice, salt and pepper powder. Stir well on high flame till the flavors blend.

Garlic mushroom rice is ready.

Let's check out what's cooking in the other Blog Hoppers Spaces.

Linking this to Radhika's Blog Hop Wednesdays, Jabeen's Iftar Nights and Ayeesha's Anyone Can Cook Series - 30 Also Linding this to Sameena's Rice Event And to Herbs and Flowers Garlic hosted by Vardhini originally started by PJ

Methi Paneer Pulao

Here is another Paneer dish which I’ve been making very frequently these days for my kid’s lunch box. The first time I made this, it was an instant hit with my daughter and hubby dear who is not much of a paneer fan was also full of praises. It’s a real quickie and can be whipped up in less than 10 minutes if you have the rice cooked and ready. The addition of methi or fenugreek leaves lends a wonderful flavor and aroma to this dish. So let’s get straight to the recipe:

What you’ll need

1. Basmathi Rice – 1 cups
2. Paneer - cubed 150 gms
3. Methi/Fenugreek Leaves – 2 small bunches
4. Onion – 2 Medium
5. Tomato – 3 medium
6. Green Chilles – 2 or 3
7. Garlic – 1 or 2 cloves
8. Ginger – 1 small piece
9. Turmeric Powder - a pinch
10. Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
11. Garam Masala Powder – ½ tsp
12. Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp
13. Oil/ Ghee – 1 tbsp

Method

Cook basmathi rice in a pressure cooker with 2 cups of water for 2 whistles. Once pressure is released, remove rice into a big plate fluff it and let it cool.
Heat a Kadai with oil/ghee, add cumin seeds. Once it changes color, add in the sliced onions, grated ginger, chopped garlic and green chillies. Saute till the onions are fried well. Puree the tomatoes and add it at this stage. Add turmeric powder and chilli powder. Fry for 3 to 5 minutes or till the raw smell of tomatoes is gone and most of the moisture from the tomato is evaporated. Next add in the chopped fenugreek leaves and fry for about a minute or 2. Next add in the cubed paneer pieces and mix well. Now add the garam masala, cooked rice and salt to taste. Mix well on high flame till all the flavors blend well.
Delicious Methi Paneer Pulao is ready to be served. Serve it with a raita of your choice.

Note:

You could add Peas instead of Methi , that is also a good combination.

Linking this to Shobha's Cook it Healthy - Proteinicious and Healthy Lunch Box Ideas started by Kalyani and guest hosted by Jayashree

Spinach and Sweet Corn Pulao

Spinach:- the most dreaded veggie among children, reason - unknown. I remember, during my childhood days, me and brother would make a big racket if there was spinach or for that matter any of the green leafy vegetables. But my mom did not give up on us. She thought of different ways to incorporate it in our diet. She would make Spinach Parathas, Spinach Dosas, Spinach Pulao etc. We used to love eating those Green and colorful dishes. And my mother would silently feel happy that she could make us eat this simple yet nutritious Veggie in some form or the other.

The vicious cycle continues, you guessed it right; my daughter can’t stand the sight of greens. Then, one day I remembered this pulao which my mom used to make using spinach and green peas. I tried it out by substituting peas with sweet corn and packed it for my lil one’s school lunch. I was waiting apprehensively for the result. The verdict- my mom’s trick had worked again .

Serves: 2
Prep Time: about 25 to 30 mins

What you’ll need

1. Basmathi Rice – 1 cup
2. Spinach – 3 to 4 small bunches
3. Sweet Corn Niblets - ¾ cup
4. Onion – 2 medium sized
5. Green Chillies – 2
6. Garlic – 3 to 4 cloves
7. Cloves – 2
8. Green Cardamom – 2
9. Bay Leaf – 1
10. Cinnamon – a small piece
11. Garam Masala Powder – ½ tsp
12. Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp
13. Fennel Seeds – ½ tsp
14. Oil/Ghee/Butter – 1 tbsp
15. Salt to Taste

Method

Wash and cook rice with 2 cups of water. After it is done, remove the cooked rice onto a plate and allow it to cool.

In the meanwhile, wash and chop spinach finely. Pressure cook or microwave the corn niblets as well. Slit the green chillies, slice onions and finely chop garlic.

Heat a non stick Kadai with about a tbsp of oil, add the cumin, fennel, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and the bay leaf. Saute for 30 secs to 1 min. Next add in the slit green chillies, chopped garlic and sauté for a minute. Now add the sliced onions and fry for about 2 to 3minutes or till the onions turn slightly brown. Next add the chopped spinach and sauté till all the moisture is absorbed and spinach is cooked. Now add the boiled corn, cooked rice salt and garam masala powder. Mix everything well.

Delicious Spinach Corn Pulao is ready. Tastes good as it is, if you like you could serve it with a raita of your choice.

Linking this to Dish it out – Spinach and Garlic an event started by Vardhini, Light Lunches being hosted at Red Chillies, Quick and Easy Recipe Mela hosted by Nithu and also to My Mother’s Kitchen an event started by Kalyani, Also linking this to WWC - Corn for Dinner being hosted by Reva started by Sangeetha