Carrot rice.

Winter is the season where I buy carrots  regularly , the winter red carrots. I buy the thin slender ones.I eat one slender carrot daily preceding lunch.I love it ! I had been told in my childhood that carrots are good for weak eyesight & I have stuck to eating carrots during winters.Summer carrots, I am unable to munch on .Whatever remnant eyesight I still possess, is due to this carrot eating.

Since carrots were too many , I thought why not try some carrot rice. There are many  recipes on carroty rice. I wanted to use pressure cooker to make it a one pot meal. I chose this one from Indian Khana. I changed it a little. I skipped using garlic & onions.I added peas as I had them.

 I cut carrots in small pieces after peeling them .I put them in mixer & got very bit sized pieces .I was failing too lazy to chop them finely.Slender carrots do not grate properly.

Ingredients : 3/4 cup basmati rice,1/2 cup carrot bit sized pieces, 1/4 cup peas,1 green chilly roughly chopped, a few sprigs of curry leaves, 1/2 tsp grated ginger, 1/2 inch cinnamon stick, 1 star anise, 4-5 peppercorns, 1-2 cloves, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1/4 tsp haldi, 1/4 tsp garam masala powder, 1tbsp oil, salt to taste.

Method : Wash rice & keep aside.

Take  the green chilly pieces, curry leaves & grated ginger into a mix by grinding in mixer without water.Keep aside.

In a pressure pan, heat oil.Add slightly crushed cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, star anise, mustard & cumin seeds.They will soon get aromatic.

Add the   ground green chilli, ginger curry leaves mix. Fry nicely.Add green peas.Fry nicely so that all spices, coat the peas.Add carrot .Mix nicely.Add haldi. Mix all things nicely.After 2-3 minutes, add rice.Mix nicely.Add salt.Mix nicely.Add 1.5 cups water.Mix nicely.Add garam masala. Mix all with rice & water.Close the lid of the pressure pan.Put on the whistle on the lid.Pressure cook for 2-3 whistles. After cooker cools, take off whistle & fluff up rice with a fork.

Serve carrot rice with dahi or raita or papad or enjoy it just like that !

My recipe turned out too spicy maybe because I ground the green chillies, ginger & curry leaves. I had to add a dash of lemon juice before I ate it !

Vegetable rich tahiri

I am an avid follower of Sangeeta Khanna on facebook. She posts her recipes & useful tips & tidbits on facebook under the caption Healthy Living with Sangeeta Khanna. Her tips, recipes & information have opened the world of food to so many like never before.....

I read about Tahiri pulao on Sangeeta Khanna's  blog. Tahiri is a mixed vegetable pulao from Uttar Pradesh. And I have been wanting to try it. She has a variety of Tahiri recipes on her banaras ka khana blog. And some days back , she had shared a mixed vegetable tahiri recipe .This is on her other food & recipe blog called healthfood desivideshi.  I tried it with some variations .Needless to add, I loved it !

Ingredients :3/4 cup rice (  used basmati tukda ) , 5-6 Cauliflower florets,1/4 cup  cauliflower stems cubed or cut into medium slices, 1/4 cup broccoli stems cut into medium slices, 1 tbsp peas,1/4 cup potato peeled & cubed ( optional ), 1/4 cup carrots cubed, 1/4 cup beans roughly chopped ( into half an inch a piece ) , 1 tbsp ghee, 1 tsp jeera,8 peppercorns , 2 cloves , 2-3 green chillies finely chopped, 1 inch ginger cleaned & grated, 1 tsp haldi, salt to taste.

Method : Heat ghee  a pressure pan on low flame..Add jeera.As soon as jeera turns aromatic, add the crushed pepper corns & cloves ( I crushed them in my small grinder jatr ...it can be done with pestle as well ).They will soon get fragnant. Add green chillies & ginger. Fry all nicely for aminute. Add all the vegetables except the cauliflower florets.Mix all nicely so that all spices & veggies get together. Add haldi .Mix all ingredients in pressure pan again.Add salt.Give the ingredients a stir so that salt gets mixed with all veggies.Add rice.Mix all the ingredients in pressure pan .Fry all for 2-3 minutes. Add cauliflower florets.Give the ingredients a  stir. Add water ( Added 1.5 cups water as rice was 3/4 cup ) .Stir everything for the final time. Close the pressure pan with lid.Cook for 2-3 whistles. Put off gas. After it cools. remove the whistle.After 10-15 minutes, open the lid & look at the Tahiri pulao ! It looks delicious. Serve with dahi , raita, papad, or vegetable salad or eat it just like that !

This rice was not at all spicy.So if you like it more pungent & spicy,please feel free to add more of spices ( cloves, peppercorns ) or green chillies & ginger or a combination of all as per your taste. Sangeeta Khanna has added quite a bit of spices, if you read her recipe.I use very little spices as I am used to  less spicy food.