Schezwan Capsicum Fried Rice

An awesome recipe to order in restaurants now can be created in your own kitchen!! I wonder which restaurant sells this though....

 

Schezwan Capsicum Fried Rice

Ingredients (serves for 2-3 persons)

Capsicum - 3 (very small size) different colours

Basmati rice - 1 cup, 200 grams, of rice

Big onion - 1 (medium size)

Kashmiri chilli - 2

Red chili - 2

Frozen Green peas - 3 handful

Frozen Sweet corn - 3 handful

Tomato sauce - 2 tsp

Soya sauce - 2 tsp

Pepper powder - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

For the seasoning

Butter - 2 tsp
Oil - 3 tsp
Sombu (Aniseed) broken - 1/2 tsp

Preparation

Chop the onion and capsicums in long size pattern.

Make the Szechwan sauce:

Method - Soak the Kashmiri chilies and Ordinary Red chilies in little hot water for 5 minutes, grind the same and make paste without making it watery.

Method

In a Frying pan add 2 tsp of butter and fry Sombu. Add the remaining oil and fry the onion pieces with little salt to golden brown.

Add the half boiled fresh green peas, sweet corn and fry for a minute.

Add the chopped Capsicum of all colors available and small amount of salt.

On fried vegetables add the Szechwan sauce, Tomato sauce, Soya sauce and Pepper powder and sauté until the vegetables become soft.

Now add the cooked rice and salt to taste in the mixture, mix well in high flame for a while and switch off the flame. Now the dish is ready to serve.

Tips

For boiling fresh green peas, sweet corn (available in frozen form) it is enough to keep the peas and sweet corn with some little water in a small flat bowl on the pressure cooker while cooking the rice.

Add little salt to rice before mixing the rice with the main dish so that the salt will spread evenly in the rice/dish.

Take care while sprinkling the salt because it is used in various stages. If the dish becomes salty, the taste will not be good.

Surakaai (Bottle Gourd) Chapatti

Lauki or bottle gourd is one of those vegetables that has been forgotten from the Indian cuisine. An easy recipe to start off with, chapattis are common in every house because they are easy to make, why not give the usual chapatti some flavor??

Surakaai (Bottle Gourd) Chapatti

Ingredients (for serving 2 to 3 members)

Wheat flour - 3 cups

Suraikai (Bottle Gourd) - 1 (small size)     

Ginger - 1 inch

Garlic pods - 2 numbers (medium size)

Green chilli - 2 or 3 numbers as per taste

Omam (Carom seeds) - 1 pinch

Cooking oil - 1tsp

Salt to taste

Preparation

Make paste of green chilies, ginger and garlic.

Remove the outer thick cover of the Suraikai (Bottle Gourd) and the remove the seeds if they are not soft. Grate the vegetable in a grater.

Method

In a bowl mix wheat flour, chilies, ginger and garlic paste, hand squeezed Omam, cooking oil, salt and ¾^th portion of the grated bottle gourd, and don’t add any water. Make dough as done for making chapattis. If necessary use the remaining ¼^th of of grated bottle gourd to avoid the dough becoming watery. Make chapattis immediately without keeping the dough for long time in the mixing bowl and serve with tomato sauce.

Tips

The grated Suraikai will become dark if it is kept for long time. To avoid this prepare other items in the bowl and grate the Suraikai before making dough.

Health Tips

Suraikai has iron and other minerals.

Omam is good for digestion.

Small Goosebery Pachadi

Gooseberry.... more commonly called as Amla, famous for its sour taste. If you haven't heard about this trick, then try it once, eat a gooseberry fruit and drink some water, the sweet taste that comes after is very replenishing. A cool pachadi for a good steam lunch. Enjoy your meal!!

 

Small Goosebery Pachadi

Ingredients

Small Goose berry - 10-15 numbers

Curd - 3-4tbsp

Grated coconut - 2tbsp

Green chilies – 2-3 numbers as per taste

Salt to taste

For the seasoning

Cooking Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp
Asafetida one pinch

Curry leaves 10 numbers

Preparation

Remove the seeds from the gooseberries.

Method

Grind the small gooseberries, coconut, green chilies and salt in a mixture grinder and transfer to a serving vessel.

In a frying pan fry the items for seasoning and add with the grinded mixture.

This pachadi is good with the cooked rice and pappad as side dish.

Health tips

Gooseberries are rich in Vitamin C.

Vallarai Keerai Thuvaiyal

The elder people in our houses would always mention the type of foods that they used to have which would also act as a medicine during their times. Now a days, its all been only the English medicines and the rest have gone from all our minds. So i give you one such recipe that would increase your memory power, so that you would remember this the next time you search for an item to increase your child's memory.

 

Vallarai Keerai Thuvaiyal

Ingredients

Vallarai Keera - 1 bunch

Grated coconut - 2 tbsp

Tamarind paste - 1 tsp

Jaggery (Vellam) - 1 to 2 tsp as per taste (If available, use Panai vellam which is good for health)

Salt to taste

For the seasoning

Cooking Oil - 1 tsp

Urad dal  - 1 tbsp

Asafoetida - 3 pinch

Red chilies - 2 to 3 numbers as per taste

Preparation

Pluck out the leaves of the Vallarai keerai. Wash the leaves 2 to 3 times in water.

Method

In a frying pan put 1 tsp of cooking oil and fry urad dal until golden brown. Now add asafoetida and red chilies and fry for a while.

Add the green leaves and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes until the raw smell disappears.

Now switch off the flame and add grated coconut with the mixture.

Wait till the fried items come to room temperature.

Put them along with Tamarind paste, jaggery and salt into a mixer jar and firstly grind without water and add little water with the mixture and grind again. Transfer to a serving vessel.

Now the dish is ready to serve.

This thuvayal is good with cooked rice and appalam or as a side dish for sambar rice.

Health benefits

Vallarai keerai is for improving memory power.

Banana Flower and Drumstick Leaves Rice

Bananas are always welcomed in our homes even by kids, but the florets from where those bananas came from are never considered in the edible list in many of the houses. These florets are actually very healthy and when made into recipes like this along with drumstick leaves, they are mouth-watering. Yum!!

Banana Flower and Drum Stick Leaves Rice

Ingredients

Banana flower (Vazhai poo) - 1 (small size)

Raw rice or Jeera samba rice – 1 cup (in loosen form and not in sticky form)

Drum stick leaves cleaned 2-3 handful

Big onion - 1 medium size

Apple/Bangalore Tomato - 1 (medium size)

Green chilli - 2 or 3 numbers as per taste

Ginger - ¾ inch

Garlic pods - 2 numbers (medium size)

Fresh lemon juice - 1 tsp (optional)

Salt to taste

For the seasoning

Butter - 2 tsp
Cooking Oil - 4 tsp
Cardamom -1
Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
Cloves - 2

Bengal gram - 2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp

Kashmiri chilly or red chilly - 1

Preparation

Clean the ball headed string in the middle of each floret of the Banana flower. Chop and keep aside.

(If it is not cooked immediately the colour of the chopped florets will become dark due to oxidation. To avoid, keep the chopped florets in water with little curd or in plain water with little salt.)

Wash the Drum stick leaves 2 to 3 times in plain water and keep aside.

Make a paste of green chilies, ginger and garlic.

Method

In a Frying pan put 2 tsp of butter and fry the cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. Add 2 tsp of oil and fry the Drum stick leaves until the raw smell disappears and keep aside.

Add the remaining oil in the same frying pan and fry the bengal gram, urad dal, red chilly.  Add the chopped onion pieces with little salt, fry to golden brown. Add the chopped tomato and chilly paste and fry until the raw taste disappears. Add the chopped banana florets and fry till you get a soft texture.

Then add the fried drum stick leaves mixture with this.

Add the cooked rice and salt to taste in the mixture, mix well in high flame for a while and switch off the flame. After a few minutes add some drops of lemon juice. Now the dish is ready to serve.

If drumstick leaves are unavailable, avoid the steps and make the dish only with banana florets.

Side dish preferable

Palak Paneer or any type of raitha

Health Benefits

Banana flower helps to reduce the problem for women who are suffering from stomach pains during mensuration period.

The tips for cooking rice varieties is also available in this blog.