Sama ke Chawal ki Khichdi

sama ke chawal ki khichdi

Sama ke chawal ki khichdi is made during fasts like Ekadashi and Navratra. It's very easy to make and tastes delicious. If you want to stay away from fried food during fasts, then this khichdi (shyamak chawal ki khichdi) is an ideal option.
1 cup sama ke chawal (shyamak chawal/samo rice/samak chawal)
4-5 green chillies- chopped
Sendha salt (rock salt) - to taste
2 medium potato- cubed
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
How to make sama ke chawal ki khichdi
1. Wash sama ke chawal and soak for 1/2 an hour. Drain.
2. Heat ghee in a pressure cooker and saute green chillies.
3. Add rest of the ingredients and 5 cups of water. (Idea is to add 4-5 times water as the quantity of sama ke chawal).
4. Close the lid of the cooker and pressure cook to 1-2 whistles.
5. Let the pressure drop down before opening the lid of the cooker. Enjoy your sama ke chawal ki khichdi!

Shyamak Chawal ki Kheer Recipe (Samo Rice Pudding)

shyamak chawal ki kheer

In fasts like Ekadashi or Navratri, shyamak chawal ki kheer or vrat ke chawal ki kheer is quite popular.  It's light and easy to digest but quite filling. Shyamak chawal is known by many names in India, like samak chawal, sama ke chawal and swang chawal.

Recipe of shyamak (samak) chawal ki kheer

1 liter milk (preferably full fat)

1/2 cup shyamak chawal (samak chawal/sama ke chawal/samo rice)

4-5 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Chopped nuts like almonds and raisins

1. Wash shyamak chawal and soak for 1/2 an hour. Drain.

2. Boil milk and add sama ke chawal.

3. Simmer on a low heat, stirring occasionally, till kheer reaches desired consistency.

4. Add sugar, cardamom powder and nuts. Cook for 2-3 minutes more.

5. Cool kheer and chill in refrigerator. Enjoy shyamak chawal kheer.

Note- You can enjoy shyamak chawal kheer both warm and cold.

This kheer cooks much faster than rice kheer.

Besan Masala Toast

besan masala  toast

You can have this besan masala toast as a healthy breakfast option or as a low calorie snack.

Recipe of besan masala toast

1/2 cup besan (chickpea flour/gram flour)

1 onion- chopped

1 tomato- chopped

2-3 green chillies- chopped

Fresh coriander leaves (cilantro) - chopped

Bread slices as needed (I used brown bread)

Salt to taste

Oil as needed

How to make besan masala toast

1. Take besan in a bowl and add water little by little, mixing with other hand so as to prepare a smooth lump free batter. The consistency of batter should be pakora (fritter) batter like.

2. Add rest of the above ingredients (except bread and oil) to the besan batter and mix well.

3. Heat a non-stick tava (griddle). Apply a thin layer of besan mixture on 1 side of bread slices.

4. Keeping the heat to low, smear oil on tava and place bread slices on tava with besan mixture side down. Roast on a low heat for 2-3 minutes, and then increase the heat to medium. Roast for 1-2 minutes.

5. Flip and roast other side of bread as well.

6. Remove from tava and serve besan masala toast hot with tomato ketchup.

Note- 1. Apply a thin layer of besan mixture otherwise it will remain uncooked.

2. Roast besan toast on a low heat otherwise vegetables will burn.

3. You can apply besan mixture on both sides of bread also.

Lemon Oats Recipe

lemon oats

Lemon oats is one of the quickest oats recipes that I have come across. When I made it, I couldn't believe that oats can be so tasty. Oats in a yummy avatar dressed in lemon juice is a must try for all those health buffs who get tired of their monotonous oatmeal routine. What’s more, you can make them in a jiffy on a busy morning.

Recipe of lemon oats

1 cup oats (I used Quaker)

1 cup water

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp red chilli powder or 2 green chillies chopped

Salt to taste

1 tsp dhuli urad dal (gram dal)

1 1/2 tbsp roasted peanuts

Juice of 1 medium lemon

1 tbsp oil

How to make lemon oats

1. Dry roast oats for about 4 minutes. Keep aside.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they pop, add urad dal. Let it turn lightly red. Sauté green chillies if you are using.

3. Add water, turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Bring it to a boil.

4. Add oats and salt. Mix, lower heat and cook covered till all the water is absorbed.

5. Turn off the heat and mix in lemon juice. Add roasted peanuts and serve lemon oats hot.

Sooji (Semolina) Toast Recipe

sooji toast

This is a low calorie, healthy and tasty breakfast option. I learnt this recipe of sooji toast from my maternal aunt Mrs. Deepa Gupta while we were casually chatting. She also adds capsicum (shimla mirch) and cabbage (patta gobi) to the sooji -curd mixture.

Recipe of sooji toast

1/2 cup sooji (semolina/suji)

1 cup curd (yogurt/dahi)

1 onion- chopped

1 tomato- chopped

3 green chillies- chopped

Salt to taste

Oil as needed

6-8 bread slices (I used brown bread)

How to make/prepare suji toast

1. Soak suji in curd for 15 minutes.

2. Add salt, onion, tomato and green chillies to it.

3. Apply a thin layer of sooji mixture on one side of bread slices.

4. Heat a non-stick tava (griddle) and smear oil on it. Place bread slices on tava with mixture side down. Keep the heat to low otherwise vegetables will burn.

5. While the lower side of bread is roasting, apply a layer of suji mixture on upper side as well.

6. After 2-3 minutes of roasting, increase the heat to medium and roast for 1-2 minutes more.

7. Flip and roast other side of bread as well. Remove from tava and serve sooji toast hot.

Note- 1. Apply a thin layer of sooji mixture otherwise it will remain uncooked and give raw taste.

2. Also, cook sooji toast on a low heat otherwise topping will burn.

3. You can also prepare suji toast by applying suji mixture on 1 side of bread only but you have to roast plain bread side also.

Hare Matar ki Poori (Green Peas Puri)

hare matar ki poori

This recipe of hare matar ki poori comes from Uttar Pradesh (U.P.). To boil the matar, you can pressure cook them to 1 whistle or you can microwave them. Some people confuse matar ki poori with matar ki kachori. This is a recipe of  matar ki puri and not kachori.

Recipe of matar ki poori

2 cup atta (whole wheat flour)

1 cup hare matar (green peas) - boiled

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1/4 tsp garam masala

A pinch of hing (asafoetida)

2 tsp oil +2 tsp oil +  for deep frying

1. In a bowl, add atta, 2 tsp oil and salt. Adding water, knead atta into stiff dough. Keep aside, covered, for 1/2 an hour.

How to prepare the stuffing for matar ki puri

2. Mash boiled matar to a coarse paste using a potato masher.
3. Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan and add hing. After this, add mashed matar. Add all the spices and salt and mix well.
4. Saute matar till all moisture evaporates and you get a dry stuffing.

How to make/prepare hare matar ki poori

4. Take a lemon size ball from the dough and flatten it between your palms. Place a little stuffing in it and gather the edges again making a ball.

5. Roll out on lightly oiled surface, into 3 inch round puri.

6. Deep fry this poori in medium hot oil. Fry from both sides, turning as needed, till golden. Drain on an absorbent paper. Serve hot hare matar ki poori with some yogurt and pickle.

Pineapple Sheera (Halwa) Recipe

pineapple halwa

This recipe is among the few recipes with pineapple that I know as I am not used to cooking with pineapple. Pineapple sheera is nothing but sooji halwa with pineapple. It's a quick and easy dessert which now makes its appearance in wedding buffets so you can also call it dessert for crowds.

Recipe of pineapple sheera/suji halwa with pineapple

1 cup sooji (suji/semolina)

1 cup pineapple pieces

1/2 cup ghee

1 cup sugar

Nuts like cashews, almonds and raisins - chopped

A pinch of saffron (kesar)

How to cook/prepare pineapple sheera

1. Heat ghee in a kadhai or a pan and add sooji. Roast sooji, stirring, till it turns golden brown. Add saffron and mix.

2. Add pineapple pieces and cook for 2-3 minutes.

3. Add 4 cups of water and sugar. Cook covered over medium heat till all moisture evaporates and sooji is completely cooked.

4. Garnish pineapple sheera with nuts and serve hot.