Vaangi Bhath – Brinjal Rice

Vaangi Bath Recipe

Prep & Cooking: 30 mts

Serves 4-5 persons

Cuisine: Karnataka

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Ingredients:

4 cups raw rice (cook rice such that each grain is separate, add a tsp of ghee and lemon juice to the rice and combine)

12 green or purple brinjals (thinly slice into 2″ pieces and place in salted water)

1 1/2 tbsps oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp channa dal (optional)

15 fresh curry leaves

pinch of turmeric pwd

2-3 tbsps roasted groundnuts

1/2 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

salt to taste

To be roasted and ground to a fine pwd:

6 whole dry red chillis (adjust to your spice level)

1 tsp coriander seeds

1/4 tsp khus-khus/gasagasalu/poppy seeds

large pinch cumin seeds

1/2 tbsp black gram dal (minappappu)

1/2 tbsp bengal gram/channa dal/senaga pappu

1/2 tbsp grated dry coconut

1 Marathi moggu

1 cinnamon stick (dalchinichakka)

1 clove

1/4 tbsp sesame seeds

1/4 tsp inguva

1 tsp oil

1 Heat a cooking vessel on medium heat and dry roast cumin seeds and coriander seeds, clove, marathi moggu, cinnamon and dry chillis for 2 mts. Remove and keep aside. In the same pan, add oil, add channa dal and urad dal and fry for two minutes till they turn red. Remove and keep aside. Add khus-khus, sesame seeds and grated coconut and fry for a minute and turn of heat. Add hing and stir fry for a few seconds. Cool and grind all the roasted ingredients to make a powder.
2 In the same vessel, add oil and once its hot, add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add the channa dal and once it turns red, add curry leaves and let the flavor of the curry leaves come out.
3 Add the brinjal pieces, turmeric pwd and salt and fry for few minutes until raw smell disappears.
4 Add the ground vangi bath masala pwd and combine well and cook further for another 2-3 mts. Add the raw rice and combine with the brinjal-spice mixture.
5 Add the roasted peanuts and adjust salt and combine with the rice.
6 Serve hot with yogurt and appadam. A one-pot complete meal!

Note:

This rice can be prepared using other vegetables like carrots, tindora, okra etc. The peanuts add to the flavor, so don’t skip this step.

Red Bell Pepper Pasta Sauce

Red Bell Pepper, Parsley, Almond Pasta Sauce

INGREDIENTS

•  
• 2 red bell peppers (~119 g each)
• 2-3 Tbsp (30-45 ml) olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped (~1/4 cup or 40 g)
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped (2 Tbsp or 12 g)
• Sea salt and ground black pepper
• Handful of almonds
• Milk to cover all ingredients in vitamix
• 1 Tbsp (10 g) cornstarch (skip next time since it was too much sauce as i added more almonds)
• Pinch red pepper flake (optional, for heat)
• costco pasta

PROCEDURE

1. Heat oil

2.Add onions medium pieces since i'm going to blend in vitamix

3. Add red capsicum pieces, garlic cover on medium heat and then fry (roast if possible, last time capsicum got burnt it a little to taste changed a bit)

4. Add to vitamix with almonds, milk, red pepper, chopped parsley, black pepper, salt,cornstarch - run it on high until mixture thickens

5. Turn off and simmer on stove for few mins until it thickens

6. Add some hot sauce for adults over pasta and cheese for adults

Beetroot Pachadi

Beetroot Pachadi

Thalimpu (Red chilies, Avalu, Jeera, Kandi pappu, Senagapappu, methulu, karvepaku, ) roast and take it off

Then add very small pieces of beetroot or if possible grate it and add to oil. cover the lid and until beetroot is fully cooked

Then add grated coconut and tamarind. fully bit more and after cooling grind everything into smooth paste.

Beetroot Pappu

Beetroot Pappu

Ingredients:
Beetroot - 1 medium size (cut it to small pieces for kids, maybe in food processor)
Toor Dal 3/4 cup
Tomatoes 1 medium
Onion 1 medium size
Green chilies 6-8
Jeera /cumin 1 teaspoon
Red chilies 2
Mustard 1 teaspoon
Garlic 3-4 cloves
Curry leaves 1 stem
Salt as per taste
Haldi powder 1\4 teaspoon
Oil 1 tablespoon
asafoetida 1 pinch

Procedure:
1.In a pressure cooker heat some oil and add the cumin, mustard, red chili, green chili, garlic and curry leaves and saute till mustard splutters.

2.Add the onions, turmeric and salt and saute for a minute.

3.Add the chopped beetroot and tomatoes, and asafoetida and saute for a minute.

4.Add the toor dal,3-4 cups water and pressure cook for 4 whistles,let the steam go and gently stir the curry so that the dal gets mashed.

Ragi Idli

• Prep time: 15 min
• Cook time: 15 min
• Serves: 5

Main Ingredients:

1. ragi

Ingredients

• Urad dal - 1/2 cup, soak in water for 2 to 3 hours
• Cream of rice - 1 cup (Idli rava)
• Ragi flour - 1 cup
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Cooking soda - pinch

Method

1. Soak urad dal for about 2 to 3 hrs. Soak the idli rava in water separately for an hour before mixing with urad dal batter. After 2 hours drain the water from the urad dal and grind to a smooth paste adding 3/4 cup of water.
2. Squeeze out the water from the cream of rice and add to the ground urad dal batter. Add the ragi flour and mix. Mix well till well combined.
3. Place the mixture in a warm place for 8-10 hours or overnight to let the idli mixture ferment. The fermentation is slow in winter and quick during summer. The key to soft and fluffy idlis is in the fermentation process.
4. After 10 hours you will find that the mixture will be double the original volume. After fermentation, add salt and pinch of soda bi carbonate and mix well. The batter is now ready to make idlis.
5. Grease idli maker plates with some oil and fill with idli batter. Steam covered for about 10-12 minutes and remove each idli carefully with a spatula.
6. Serve with sambar or chutney of your choice.

Red Bell Pepper Tomato Chutney

Main Ingredients:

1. red bell pepper
2. tomato

Ingredients

• Red Bell Pepper - 2, chopped into 1" pieces
• Tomatoes - 2 large, sliced
• Chana dal - 1 1/2 tbsps (Bengal gram/senaga pappu
•  Urad dal - 1 1/2 tbsps (white whole minapappu) 
• Dry red chilies - 2 (optional, i skipped)
• Green chilies small- 3
• Cumin - 1 tsp
• Coriander leaves - 2 tbsps
• Salt to taste
• Cooking oil - 1 1/2 tbsps
• For tempering/poppu/tadka:
• OIl - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Red chilies - 2
• Curry leaves - a sprig
• Asafoetida - pinch

Method

         (for kids)

1.         Heat oil, add tadka items (mustard seeds,cumin,green chilies,curry       leaves,channa data,urad dal 
2.        Add tomatoes, red bell pepper, coriander leaves cover with lid
3.        Blend everything in vitamin and serve with dosa and idly 

     (for adults)

  

   1. use 1 bell pepper instead of 2, add dry red chillies blend everything together 

2. add tadka again this time with mustard and cumin seeds.

      

Tomatillo Sauce

Tomatillo Sauce 
to go on grilled chicken or burrito. I tried mine with Pasta and loved it.

Ingredients:

1 pound (454 g) tomatillos, husks removed and quartered

1/2 cup (72 g) chopped yellow onion

2 big garlic cloves, peeled

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup (240 ml) water

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 dried Ancho chile, seeded - substitued Thai chile

freshly ground black pepper

Salt to taste

Directions:

1) Add olive oil to the pan and  saute Onions until they turn little brown in color and then add chilly,garlic and saute them

2) Add Tomatillos to the sauted onions and chile and saute for couple of mins

3)Add water to the tomatillos and cover it with a lid for about 10mins or until the tomatillos are soft

4)Add the above sauteed onions, chilly, tomatillo to vitamix (blender) along with oregano, black pepper, salt and run it on high until it becomes a thick sauce. 

tip: if your blender doesn't have the capability to make it a thick smooth paste, pour the blended puree into a sauce pan and let it simmer for some time until it becomes a thick paste (just like store bought tomato puree)

5) Add the sauce to the grilled chicken and serve