Vegetable Pulav - Kurma

Pulav Ingredients and Method :
        2 cups Basmati Rice; 2 Cinnamon sticks; 2 Marati Mogga (dried capers); 1 medium onion, bay leaves; few cloves and cardomom; 2 potatoes - sliced; 1/2 cup shredded carrot; 1/2 cup frozen peas; 3 thai chillies; salt to taste; 1/4 cup milk; few cashews.

--> Cook rice; (add pinch of salt and few drops of oil for fluffy rice).
--> In the meanwhile, saute all the above ingredients except cashews and milk;
--> Add the sauteed ingredients to the rice that is being cooked; mix it; now, wash frozen peas and keep aside.
--> when the rice is almost about to done, add roasted cashews, peas, milk, stir rice altogether once and unplug the cooker, once it is done;


Kurma Ingredients and Method :
    1 cauliflower; 2 star anise; 2 cinnamon sticks; 2 black cardomom; 4 cardomom; few cloves; 1/2 cup poppy seeds; 1/2 cup shredded coconut; cilantro; 2 thai chillis; 1 tsp red chilli powder; few black pepper; 2 big onions; 2 tomatoes; 1 tsp garam masala; few kasoori methi; 1/2 cup yogurt;

--> Boil cauliflower florets in water, with a bit of salt and keep the boiled florets aside;
--> Saute all the ingredients leaving green chillies, poppy seeds, coconut, yogurt; u can take away the big spices like star anise, cinnamon sticks, black cardomom after sauted them;
--> Dry roast poppy seeds, green chillies; let them cool down a bit and grind them with coconut until fine paste.
--> Add the paste to the sauteed mixture, add yogurt, add the boiled cauliflower florets, salt, mix altogether, close lid and let it all cook on slow flame;
--> finally add cilantro and serve it hot;

Chekkalu

Hii All, again after a very long time, i came up with delicious crunchy snack recipe to share with you all.
Ingredients:
Rice Flour 2 cups;  Green chillies  2 thai; small piece of Ginger;  few Curry leaves; few cilantro;  1 tsp cumin powder;  Chana dal 3 tbsp; Oil  to deep fry; salt to taste.

Method:
--> Soak chana dal for atleast 1 hr;
--> Make paste with rest of the ingredients with small stone grinder/mixer.
--> Take rice flour in a bowl, mix the above prepared chillie paste, and soaked chana dal, salt
--> Add 2 tbsp of warm oil. sprinkle little by little water and mix the dough altogether. don't add excess water. the finished dough should be like this :

--> Heat up oil in a pan sufficient to deep fry;
Note : Knead the dough well; or else, chekkalu may break up when u put them in oil;
--> make small dumplings, put each dumpling on ziploc, and press it thinly. instead of pressing with hand, i use
(small easy trick : i put the dumplings between 2 ziplocs and press each one with ding chick[small stone grinder] until it become thinner.)
--> Place each of the chekkalu into the heated oil and fry them on med-hi flame slowly; let them cool down; store and enjoy the taste upto 2 weeks (or even more if they still survive :) );