CORN CAPSICUM PULAV and RAITA

I found this one of the easiest and tastiest to make. My girls love it.. In continuation with my earlier post I am writing down recipes of three more dishes .

CORN CAPSICUM PULAV
Ingredients
1 cup frozen or canned corn kernels
2 tbsp of Biryani or pulav masala( I used Badshah... shahi biryani powder)
1 capsicum sliced
1 sliced onion
2 cups Basmati rice, (washed and drained)
1 tbsp oil/ghee
2 tsp Jeera(cumin)
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves for seasoning.

Method
Defrost/wash corn kernels . In a deep bottom pan or cooker eat the oil.Add the Cumin seeds. Saute the cut onions and then add sliced capsicum when they are slightly cooked add the corn kernels. Stir well together. Add rice and stir- fry for a few minutes.Add salt to taste and Biriyani masala according to your liking. Add 2 cups water. Cover and cook on a medium heat or if you are cooking in a pressure cooker switch off after one whistle.
Serve hot after garnishing with coriander leaves.

JEERA ALOO
A lovely accompaniment made of potatoes , it is delicious with rice, roti or puri. It is very simple yet very tasty.. here is the recipe.

Ingredients
5 large size aloo/potatoes (Boil them in pressure cooker with salt and turmeric powder,cut them in one inch cubes)
4Tbsp oil
3 tsp jeera/ cumin seeds
1 tsp red chili powder
1Tbsp Coriander seeds
2 Tbsp jeera powder/roasted cumin powder
1/2 tsp dry mango powder (Amchur powder)
2 Tbsp fresh coriander leaves chopped
salt to taste
METHOD
Heat oil, add jeera in oil. Let it crackle. Then add salt / red chili powder /crushed jeera and coriander seeds / dry mango powder every thing in the oil. Stir for a second.
Then lastly add the cut potatoes and mix well. Add fresh coriander leaves.
Mix well. The dry masala will coat the potatoes well.

Cucumber Raita
This is an Indian side dish, Cucumber raita is a delicious accompaniment to any roast or grilled food.. particularly with Pulavs and spicy rice preparations. It's the ideal vegetable to serve on hot summer days, as it is cool and refreshing.
ingredients
1 large cucumber, peeled, grated.
salt to taste
Jeera powder(roasted cumin powder)
2 cups of natural yogurt
2 tbsp freshly chopped mint and coriander leaves
Freshly ground black pepper.
method.
Put the grated cucumber in a bowl .In another bowl stir the yogurt with a little water to make a homogeneous mixture. Mix the cucumber and yogurt together with half the mint/coriander and plenty of pepper and cumin powder Chill in the refrigerator until serving time. Add salt just before serving to avoid the raita getting all watery. I do give it a seasoning of mustard and red chilies when I serve it with South Indian rice preparations. but for the above pulav I preferred it without mustard.

Ciao for now..

Matar Masala.../ Peas in spicy gravy

Many wishes for a prosperous and happy New year.Of all ... I was busy for the past one month with kids at home. Just a simple update with the Matar masala I made with puris for the New years day lunch... will update the other dishes slowly..
With friends over for lunch , we had been partying on the 31st night and had no vegetables other than cucumber, couple of onions, tomatoes and potatoes.But then within minutes I had a menu with only these few things....... I didn't dare to cook south Indian food... the lady of the family we had invited was a proficient in south Indian dishes... so had to cook something in north Indian style so that even if it went wrong they wouldn't notice much....(thank god everything went well).
Puri with Jeera aloo and Matar Masala
Corn and Capsicum Pulav with papad
Cucumber Raita
Rice and Rasam
Curd Rice
Kesar and Badam Lassi which was delicious even in a super shortcut method.
so for first of the series....Here is the recipe for
MATAR MASALA
Ingredients
Dry peas... 1/4 kilo
3 tomatoes
2 onions
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
oil - 2 tbsp
cumin seeds
turmeric powder
salt
jeera powder
dhania powder
garam masala powder.

Tasty Peas; MATAR MASALA

Method:
Soak the peas overnight. Boil them with a pinch of salt and turmeric powder and keep aside. Make a paste of the onions and tomatoes.In a deep frying pan, heat two spoons of oil.Add cumin seeds turmeric, then add two spoons of ginger garlic paste and saute it for a minute or two... then add the tomato onion paste. let it cook till the tomato and onions cook well, change in colour to golden brown with aroma... add salt (to taste), the masala powders .Add some water.. you can add cream to make it tastier. then add the peas and let it cook in the masala for about 10 minutes... close the pan while cooking..
Serve with a dash of lemon and garnish with coriander.

Hope you will try this and let me know how you like it.... or if you have made any changes to make it tastier would love to hear from you.....