Carrot palya

I had the good fortune of tasting carrot sabzi ( sabzi is palya in Kannada) at my in laws place.I loved it,. This sabzi  has a sweet flavour because carrots are sweet. In fact the summer carrots are good as they are firm, in comparison, to the red  carrots of winter.

Carrots have innumerable health benefits .I use them in making upma, sambhar, soup, pulao. etc.

I made it last week & my husband loved it too. The firm orange carrots are somewhat hard to chop finely & yet the efforts pay off when one tastes the sabzi !

Ingredients : 250-300 gm carrots- peeled & chopped into fine cubes, , 1-2 green chillies finely chopped, 1 byadgi or any other dry red chilli broken into pieces, 1 tbsp oil, 1/4 tsp urad dal, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds,1/4 tsp haldi , 1/4 tsp powdered hing, 1 tbsp fresh grated coconut,  a few curry leaves, salt to taste.

Method : Take a kadahi & put it on gas stove. Put on the gas on slow flame. Add oil to kadahi. Add mustard seeds.After they opo up, add urad dal. The urad dal will turn golden brown.Add powdered hing followed by curry leaves ( kadi patta ) & dry red  chilli  pieces.Mix all nicely with big spoon. Add chopped carrots & green chillies. Mix all ingredients nicely. Add haldi. Mix once gain so that haldi gets coated on all carrot pieces. Cover with lid & cook for two-three minutes. Add 1/4 to 1/3 cup water to kadahi by uncovering lid .Mix all again. Cover with lid & cook for 8-10 minutes on slow flame. In between , keep removing lid to see if water has dried up.

After water has nearly dried up, add salt .Mix again. Add fresh grated coconut. Mix all ingredients in kadahi again. Cover with lid & cook for 2-3 minutes. Put off gas.

Serve carrot palya with rotis or rice rasam combo.

Cabbage Pulao

I had made cabbage sabzi early in the week.Half of the 400 gm cabbage was leftover. I thought of making cabbage pulao. I googled & got many recipes of cabbage rice. I choose this recipe of Veg Recipes of India. I made a few changes. And of course, I made it in the cooker.

Ingredients : 1 cup basmati tukda rice, 1 tbsp oil, 200 gm finely shredded cabbage, 10-12 curry leaves , 1-2 green chillies roughly chopped, 1 tsp grated ginger, 1 bay leaf, 1 inch cinnamon stick, 5-6 peppercorns slightly pounded, 1 tsp cumin or jeera, 1 tsp dhania powder, 1/4 tsp red chilli powder, 1/4 tsp haldi, 1/4 tsp hing,juice of half lemon , salt to taste.

Method : Take oil in the pressure cooker pan. Heat the oil .Add ginger to it.Let it be nicely fried in oil.Add pounded peppercorns, cinnamon stick & cumin .After they turn fragrant, add shredded cabbage, curry leaves &  green chillies. Let it be nicely sauteed. Add haldi & hing. Mix nicely with cabbage & spices. Add bay leaf. Give all ingredients a good stir. Add rice. Mix all things nicely in the pressure pan. Add dhania powder & red chilli powder. Mix nicely with the ingredients in the vessel.Add salt. Mix nicely once again so that salt gets distributed all over. Add 2 cups water. Put on the lid of the pressure pan.Put on the whistle.Pressure cook for 2-3 whistles on high flame. Put off gas.Aftr it cools, put off whistle.After 10-15 minutes after whistle has been removed, open the lid. The cabbage pulao is ready. Sprinkle juice of half a lemon & mix with the fluffed up rice.

Serve cabbage pulao with roasted papad & raita.

My family were all praise for this mildly spiced pulao !