Lentil - Wild Rice Salad

Every time I make rice (especially Basmati Rice) in a rice cooker, it sticks to the bottom and I have to scrape it out. So, due to all the scratches at the bottom, I bought a new rice cooker. I got a receipe book along with it.. This receipe caught my eye, as it said salad with rice and lentil ..Hmm..When I went through the ingredients..it looked simple and healthy too.. When I made and served it to my hubby, he din't believe that it is a salad.. It tasted Yumm..

Ingredients for Salad Wild Rice – 1 cup Brown Lentils – ½ cup Green Onions (chopped) – 3 Celery stalk (diced) – 1 Red bell Pepper (diced) – 1 Water – 4 cups Salt Dressing: Extra- Virgin Olive oil – 1/3 cup Red Wine Vinegar – 2 Tb spoon Dijon Mustard – 2 tsp Ground black pepper – ¼ tsp Fresh Italian parsley – 1 Tb spoon (I used Cilantro / coriander leaves) Fresh Lemon thyme (minced) – 2 tsp Sweet marjoram (minced) – 2tsp ( I have not used this) Method:

• Place the wild rice, lentils and water in the rice cooker.
• Cook for one hour.
• Then add green onions, celery and red bell pepper.
• Close the lid and continue cooking until rice is tender for about 15 minutes.
• Remove the salad and place in a serving bowl. Cool to room temperature.
• In a small bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, mustard, black pepper and fresh herbs.
• Drizzle the dressing over the rice and lentil salad and toss well.
• Serve at room temperature or chill for up to 4 hours before serving.

I would like to send my Lentil - Wild Rice Salad to MLLA hosted by Srivalli. My Legume Love Affair was originally started by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook.

PS: I have used Uncle Bens Wild rice. I did not use the seasoning that came along with it. Uncle Ben rice is a mixture of wild rice and long grain rice.

Fusion Lunch (Thai and Indian combo)

Happy Republic Day to all of You

After a lovely warm week, we had a sudden temperature drop and a cold weekend. So, din't step out of the house on Saturday. On sunday we had planned to have a Republic Day potluck. So, on saturday I wanted to try Thai food as we had planned to stay at home. Had all time for trying this dish. We had a fusion lunch that day, Thai and Indian combination... Now a days my daughter is having crazy cravings at crazy times. Suddenly she got up and she wanted to eat sweet Pongal. When I had made it for Sankranthi, she had loved it..and I think she remembered it all of a sudden and asked for it...So, made Pongal for her along with Thai food.

I wanted to try a Thai dish without any coconut milk in it...(watching weight). Thanks to Google..can find anything.

Ingredients:

Extra-firm Tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes - 1 package (8 ounces) Soy sauce – 1Tb spoon Lime juice – 1/2 Tb spoon Yellow onion, chopped - 1 medium Red bell pepper, diced - 1 Green bell pepper, diced -1 Garlic, finely chopped - 1/2 teaspoon Flour - 1 Tb spoon Vegetable broth - 3 cups Nori flakes (or other crushed seaweed) - 1 teaspoon Crushed pineapple, with juice - 1/4 cup Vegan Thai red curry paste - 1-2 Tb spoons Zucchini, diced – 1 medium Mung bean or soy sprouts - 1 cup Method:

• Marinate the tofu cubes in the soy sauce and lemon for at least half an hour.
• Stir or shake often to cover all the pieces.
• Heat a large, non-stick wok or sauce pan over medium-high heat, and add the onion, peppers, and garlic.
• Cook, stirring, until onions are becoming tender for about 8 minutes.
• Add the flour, stirring constantly, and cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan, for about 2 more minutes, until the flour begins to brown.
• Continue to stir as you add the vegetable broth, nori flakes, crushed pineapple, and curry paste.
• Turn down the heat to low and simmer until it's thickened, about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, add the tofu and its marinade to a hot, non-stick skillet.
• Cook, stirring gently, until all the liquid has evaporated.
• Continue to cook without stirring until the tofu is browned on one side; then turn it over to brown on all sides. Add it to the curry mixture.

• Return the skillet to the heat and sauté the diced zucchini until it is tender but still crisp.
• Add it to the curry mixture.
• Cook the curry for about 5 more minutes. Serve over rice, sprinkled with bean sprouts and topped, if you like, with chutney.
  

PS: I have used Thai Kitchen Red curry paste . Other brands contain shrimp paste in it. You can add any other veggies too along with this. I have used sea weed instead of nori flakes. Thai Red Curry goes to A.W.E.D Thai Cuisine hosted by DK .

Now coming to Pongal, it is a must sweet made during Makara Sankranthi. I have made this twice in a span of 10 days..:-)Trying to cut dowm the sweet consumption, but not able to... This sweet goes to my daughter on her request...

Ingredients: Moong Dhal - 1 cup Rice – 2 cups Dry coconut – ¼ cup Jaggery – 2 cups Elaichi / Cardamom – 2 Ghee – ¼ - ½ cup Milk – ½ cup Raisins – 1 Tb spoon Cashews – 1 Tb spoon Method:

• Fry moong dhal with little ghee till golden brown.
• Add water and boil for 10 minutes.
• When it is half boiled, add rice to it. Add enough water for it to boil.
• Keep adding ghee to it while it is cooking.
• When the rice has cooked, add coconut elaichi powder and jaggery and stir well.
• Keep adding ghee. Add milk to it and stir it all.
• Then fry raisins and cashews in ghee and add to the pongal.
• Serve hot with more ghee on top.

Sweet Pongal goes to Just For You hosted by Sindhi Rasoi.

Sweet Pongal also goes to “Harvest: The Festival of Rice”, hosted by Here I Cook and also to Festive Food hosted by Indian Khanna.

Dill - Capsicum Lemon Rice with Usli

Back home in Bangalore, lemon rice is usually made for breakfast and also during festival days. Staying here, having heavy breakfasts is a big no-no especially at my place.. other than the weekends of course. Whenever I call home, my Dad always asks whether I cook anything at all for breakfasts:-) ..Usually I make rice items for lunch or for dinner... Hearing the same answers every time they have stopped asking about it :-).

When I called home yesterday, my mom had made lemon rice..So, today I made lemon rice with dill - capsicum and channa usli along with the rice...

Ingredients: For Lemon Rice

Rice – 2 cups Dill – 1 cup Capsicum – 1 big Onion – 1 small Channa Dhal – 1 tsp Urad dhal – 1 tsp Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp Ground nuts – 1 Tb spoon (optional) Turmeric – ¼ tsp Chilies – 5-7 Peas – ¼ cup Curry Leaves Coriander leaves Oil – 3 -4 Tb spoon Lemon Juice – 2 Tb spoon Salt

Method:

• Cook rice and keep aside.
• Wash dill and chop them finely.
• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and allow it to splutter.
• Then add ground nuts, channa dhal, urad dhal and allow it to turns little brown.
• Add onion, chilies and curry leaves and fry till onion turns golden brown.
• Add dill and fry for 2 minutes. Then add capsicum ( chop them to cubes) and peas to it.
• Sprinkle salt on it, stir and allow them to cook until soft.
• Then add turmeric powder and stir it well.
• Mix the gojju with rice, add lemon juice and coriander leaves on top and mix it all together.
• Serve hot.

Dill - Capsicum Lemon Rice goes to FIC - Yellow hosted by Harini.

To Make Channa Usli:

Usually in my place they make usli either with brown, or Kabul channa. I thought if combining both and make Usli..

Ingredients: Brown Channa - 1/2 cup Garbonzo / Kabul Channa - 1/2 cup Onion - 1 Chillis - 4 -5 Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp Curry leaves Coriander Leaves Lemon Juice - 1 Tb spoon Coconut - 2 Tb spoon (optional) Oil - 1 Tb spoon Salt Method:

• Soak both Channa's in water overnight.
• Pressure cook the channa for 2 whistles.
• Strain the channa and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds.
• After it splutters, add onions and chillis, fry till golden brown.
• Then add boiled channa to it, add salt and mix well.
• Then combine coriander leaves, coconut and lemon juice to it.

Channa Usli goes to MLLA Hosted by Srivalli and also to JFI - ChickPeas hosted by MS. My Legume Love Affair was originally started by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook.

PS:

• I have not added the coconut to it.
• You can add salt to the channa while pressure cooking them.
• I boiled the channa directly on the stove and added little salt during the process.

Lemon - Coconut Burfi

This was a long awaiting sweet to make. I had this recipe written down a while ago and at last today the time came to try it out.. There is one more reason to make this sweet.. I was passed on a Lemonade Award by LG from Taste of Mysore.. Thank You Lakshmi for passing me this award. I am very humbled and exited by the award as it is my first award. Thought it would be a perfect sweet made with lemon..:-) It turned out yummy, both my husband and my daughter loved it.

I would like to pass this award to Vanamala, Maya and Ujwal. Ingredients: For the Crust: All-purpose flour - 1 cup Granulated Sugar - 1/4 cup Salt - 1/4 tsp Butter Chilled -6 Tb spoon Coconut Flakes - 3/4 cup (toasted) For the Filling: Granulated Sugar - 3/4 cup Eggs - 2 Fresh Lemon Juice - 3 Tb spoon Lemon zest - 1 Tb spoon Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp Salt - pinch Confectioner sugar for dusting Method: To make the crust:

• In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Process briefly until well mixed.
• Add the butter and coconut and process until the mixture resembles a fine Meal.
• Transfer to the prepared pan and press into the bottom to form a crust.
• Bake until light brown around the edges, about 25 min.

For the filling:

• Combine the sugar, eggs, lemon juice and zest, baking powder and salt in a blender or in a food processor.
• Process until smooth.
• When the crust is ready, pout the filling into the hot crust.
• Continue to bake until the filling begins to brown around the edges and is just springy to touch, about 30 minutes.
• Let it cool in the pan on a wire rack.
• Cut into squares, dust the confectioners evenly.
• Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 5 days.

This Lemon - Coconut Burfi is off to FIC - Yellow hosted by Harini's ToungueTicklers.