Ven pongal

Ingredients

Raw rice - 1 cup
Split moong dal - ½ cup
Ghee (clarified butter) or butter - 4 tbsp
Mustard seeds - ½ tsp
Cumin seeds - ½ tsp
Peppercorns - 1 tsp
Fresh ginger - 1 tbsp (chopped)
Cashewnuts - 10 to 15
Asafoetida - a pinch
Curry leaves - few
Water - 5-6 cups (you may replace ½ of it with milk)
Salt as per taste

Mehtod
Fry the cashew nuts in ghee for golden colour.
Wash and rinse the rice and dal then cook along with salt for 5 to 6 whistles. If you use a small cooker then milk will boil over, so use a big one. Or do it in the pan so you can stir well.
After they are done, take a small pan and fry the mustard seeds, peppercorns, cumin seeds, asafoetida, ginger and curry leaves in the ghee.
Pour this and the cashews into the cooked rice and mix well. Serve hot with sambar.

Lemon rice

Ingredients :
1 ½ cup of cooked rice
¼ cup of peanuts
few cashew nuts
1 tbs channa dal
1 tbs urad dal
1 tsp mustard seeds
few red chilli
pinch of asafoetida
few curry leafs

Heat gingelly oil in a shallow pan or a kadai. Add the all ingredients one by one. Cook until dals change colour to light brown.then add curry leaves follwed by turmeric powder,lemon juice and salt. Stir fry for half a minute. Add cooked rice.

Garnish with coriander .

Mushroom Pulao

Ingredients:
2 cups - Basmati rice
3 cup - Any mushrooms (cut into medium sized pieces)
3 tbsp - ground ginger garlic paste
1 - big onion (sliced thin)
3 - green chillies
1 - tomato (chopped)
1 - star anise
1 - clove
1 - cardamom
2 - bay leafs
1″ - piece of cinnammon
1 - tbsp chilli powder
1/2 - tbsp coriander powder
Few - chopped mint leaves
Few - chopped coriander leaves
Few - green onions
3 cups - water
Salt to taste
3 tbsp - butter
1 tbsp - oil

Method:

• Wash and soak the rice in water before you start. 
• Wash and cut the mushroom into medium sized pieces.

• Heat the butter and oil in a saucepan. Add the star anise, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and bay leaves and saute for a minute 
• Add sliced onions and green chillies and fry till they start to brown 
• Add the ginger garlic paste and saute for about a minute 
• Now add mushroom pieces along with the chopped tomatoes and saute till the juice dries up 
• Add chilli powder, coriander powder, chopped mint leaves, coriander leaves and mix well 
• Now add ghee and soaked rice, salt to taste, and add water mix it very gently.

• Cover and cook for 10 minutes on medium heat 
• Finally, after all water evaporates, simmer for 2 minutes 
• Switch off stove, decorate with green onions 
• Serve hot pulao with raita.

Vegetable Fried Rice & Egg fried rice

Ingredients

3 cups of cooked rice (I used basmati rice)
3-4 tbsps of cooking oil
1 medium onion chopped
2 cups of mixed vegetables diced (carrots, green peas, french beans,capsicum or any other veggies of your choice. I parboil veggies like carrots, green peas, potatoes before frying)
1 tsp ginger & garlic paste
½ tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp white pepper powder (adjust)
1 tsp kasuri methi leaves crushed
a pinch of ajinomoto (optional)
2 tsp soya sauce
Salt to taste
Spring onions for garnish

Veg fried rice

In a wok, heat oil to smoking point and throw in the chopped onions. Saute them for about 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
Now throw in the diced vegetables, add salt and fry on high heat for another 2-3 minutes stirring frequently. Do not over cook the vegetables. Just cook them till tender.
Add ginger & garlic paste and sauté for another 2 mts. Add red chilli powder, white pepper powder, crushed kasuri methi leaves, and saute for a minute. Add ajinomoto and soya sauce, and saute for a minute.
Now throw in the cooked rice, and mix well with all the vegetables. Adjust salt. Continue to fry on high flame for another 3-4 minutes. Just before switching off the flame, add chopped spring onions.
Serve hot.


Egg fried rice

Make one omelet your choice cut in to slices and arrange over the rice. Otherwise fry 2 nos egg and mix it with rice.