Recipes

Vegetable Fried Rice Recipe

Published

1 year ago

October 1, 2024

Diaspora

Prep Time : 15 mins

Cook Time : 30 mins

Total Time : 45 mins

Ingredients

For cooking rice

1 cup basmati rice or long grained rice – 190 to 200 grams
4 to 4.5 cups water
½ teaspoon salt or add as required
2 to 3 drops toasted sesame oil or any neutral oil

Other ingredients

3 tablespoons oil – any neutral flavored oil
1 star anise
¾ to 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic or 3 to 4 small to medium garlic cloves
½ teaspoon finely chopped ginger or ½ inch ginger – optional
¼ cup chopped spring onion whites (scallions)
¼ cup finely chopped french beans
¼ cup finely chopped carrots
¼ to ½ cup finely chopped cabbage – optional
¼ cup chopped bell pepper or capsicum – red, green or yellow
1 cup chopped button mushrooms
1 tablespoon finely chopped celery – skip if you do not have
3 tablespoons soy sauce (naturally brewed) or tamari – can add as required
1 teaspoon rice wine or rice vinegar
½ teaspoon black pepper powder or add as required
2 tablespoons chopped spring onions greens
salt as required

Instructions

Cooking rice

Rinse rice very well till the water runs clear of starch. Soak rice in water for 30 mins. Drain and keep aside.
In a pot, bring water to a gentle boil with salt and 2 to 3 drops of toasted sesame oil.
Add the soaked and drained rice to the hot water.
On a low to medium to medium-high heat simmer rice without the lid.
When rice becomes al dente or just about cooked, remove the pot from the heat. Strain the rice in a colander or sieve.
You can also gently rinse cooked rice in water so that they stop cooking and don’t stick to each other. Cover the cooked rice and set aside until the rice cools completely. You can even refrigerate rice with a covered lid for 30 minutes.

Chopping veggies

When the cooked rice is cooling, chop the veggies finely and keep aside.
Remember to chop the french beans very finely. They take more time to cook than other veggies. You can also blanch them first and then cook. Another option is to add the beans first and then add the other vegetables.

Making fried rice

Heat oil in a wok or a pan. First add the star anise and fry for a few seconds or until the oil becomes fragrant.
Add the garlic, ginger and sauté for some seconds. No need to brown the garlic.
Add the spring onions whites and sauté for about 2 minutes.
Then add finely chopped french beans.
Stir fry french beans for 2 to 3 minutes over medium to medium-high heat.
Add the remaining finely chopped veggies, including mushrooms and celery. Increase the heat to a high to thoroughly cook all of the vegetables.
You have to continuously toss and stir while frying so that the veggies are uniformly cooked and do not get burnt.
The vegetables have to be stir-fried, until they are almost cooked and yet retain their crunchiness and crispiness. Stir-frying vegetables on high heat takes about 4 to 6 minutes.
Add the soy sauce, salt and pepper. Stir quickly and add cooked and cooled rice. Stir fry for a few minutes until the sauce has coated the rice well. Keep a check when adding salt, as soy sauce already has salt in it.
Serve the fried rice hot as it is or with with your favorite Chinese side.

Serving suggestions

Though fried rice tastes great on its own, you can pair it with Veg Manchurian, Gobi Manchurian, Chilli Paneer, Spring Rolls or Chilli Mushroom. More side recipes for veg fried rice are linked and listed in the main post.

Storing fried rice

Vegetable fried rice stays good for a couple of a days. But I would recommend it to be eaten as soon as you can since many days old rice is not good for health.

Recipes

Methi Matar Malai Recipe

Published

1 year ago

August 4, 2024

Diaspora

Prep Time : 10 mins

Cook Time : 20 mins

Total Time : 30 mins

Ingredients

For the paste

⅓ cup chopped onions or 1 medium-sized onion
¼ cup cashews – whole cashews
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon chopped garlic or 4 to 5 medium-sized garlic cloves
1 teaspoon chopped ginger or 1 inch ginger
1 teaspoon chopped green chilies or serrano peppers or 1 to 2 green chilies

Other ingredients

2 tablespoons oil or ghee
1 cup chopped fenugreek leaves (methi leaves)
½ cup water or the stock/water of boiled green peas – add as required
½ cup green peas – boiled or steamed
½ cup light cream or low-fat cream, check notes below for whipping or heavy cream
½ teaspoon sugar or add as required
salt as required

For garnish

1 to 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)
1 to 2 tablespoons green peas boiled or steamed – optional

Instructions

Preparing the ground paste

In a grinder jar or blender, add cumin seeds, chopped onions, cashews, garlic, ginger and green chilies.
Blend or grind to a smooth paste withput adding any water.
If you are not able to blend, then you can add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water.
For cooking the green peas, you can either boil them in a pan with 1.5 cups water for 7 to 8 minutes until tender or steam them in an Instant pot for 3 to 5 minutes adding about 1 to 1.25 cups water in the steel insert.
You can also boil the green peas in a stove-top pressure cooker for 5 to 6 minutes. Reserve ½ cup of the cooked water if you have boiled the peas.

Sautéing ground paste

Heat ghee (clarified butter) or oil in a pan or kadai.
When the ghee melts or becomes lightly hot, add the ground paste.
Sauté the paste for 6 to 7 minutes on a low heat until you see the fat separating from the sides.
Stir often when sautéing so that the paste does not stick to the pan. You should see fat releasing from the sides and the paste will also have a nice aroma.
You will see the paste coming together and becoming glossy. Do not brown the paste.
If the ground paste sticks to the pan or gets browned add a few splashes of water. Mix, deglaze and continue to sauté.

Making methi matar malai

Add in the chopped fenugreek leaves and sauté further for 2 to 3 minutes.
Then add ½ cup water or the stock/water in which the green peas were cooked in two parts. Mix thoroughly and simmer the gravy for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir at intervals.
Add the boiled peas and cream.
Simmer the gravy for 5 to 6 minutes on a low heat.
Finally add the sugar and salt. Mix again. At this step, you can opt to sprinkle 2 to 3 pinches of garam masala powder.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve methi matar malai hot or warm with naan, paratha or roti.

Recipes

Rava Idli | Suji ki Idli

Published

2 years ago

May 28, 2024

Diaspora

Prep Time : 35 mins

Cook Time : 12 mins

Total Time : 47 mins

Ingredients

For frying & roasting

2 tablespoons Ghee (clarified butter)
14 halved cashews
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon chana dal (husked and split bengal gram or split & husked chickpeas)
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
10 curry leaves – chopped
1 pinch asafoetida – optional
1 teaspoon or 1 inch finely chopped ginger
1 green chilli – finely chopped

For batter

2 tablespoons finely grated carrots – optional
2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)
½ teaspoon salt or add as required
1 cup or 175 grams cup rava (sooji, semolina, cream of wheat)
½ cup Curd (yogurt)
½ to ¾ cup water or add as required
1 teaspoon eno (fruit salt) or ¼ teaspoon or 2 to 3 pinches of baking soda

Instructions

Frying & Roasting

Heat 2 tablespoons ghee in a pan. Keep the heat to low or medium-low. Add the halved cashews. Stirring often fry the cashews till golden. Remove fried cashews with a slotted spoon draining the ghee and keep aside.
To the same pan add mustard seeds and let them begin to splutter. Keep the heat to low or medium-low
When the mustard seeds begin to splutter add the chana dal. Stirring often fry chana dal till they look golden and crunchy. Then add the cumin seeds and fry for 4 to 5 seconds.
Now add the chopped curry leaves, asafoetida, finely chopped ginger and green chillies. Mix well and fry for 10 seconds. Keep the heat to a low.
Next add rava (cream of wheat, suji, semolina).
Mix well and stirring often roast the rava till they become aromatic, change color a bit (but should not get browned or golden) and the grains look separate. Roasting rava will takes about 5 to 7 minutes depending on the thickness and heaviness of the pan, and the flame intensity. Once the rava is well roasted, keep the pan aside. Let the rava become warm.

Making Batter

To the roasted rava, add 2 tablespoons finely grated carrots, 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves and ½ teaspoon salt or add as required.
Next add curd (yogurt) and water as required. Depending on the quality of rava and the thickness of curd, you can adjust the water from ½ to ¾ cup. If the curd is liquid and has whey in it, then add ½ cup water. If the curd is very thick, then add ¾ cup water. Basically you need to get a medium consistency batter.
Mix very well and let the batter rest covered for 20 minutes. The rava idli batter is neither thick nor thin in consistency and has a medium consistency.
Brush oil or ghee on the idli pan moulds. Place a fried halved cashew in the center of the moulds. Also heat 2 to 2.5 cups water in a pot. Keep a small length trivet stand or a rack in the pot. Heat the water till it comes to a boil.
After 20 minutes this is the consistency of the batter after resting. If in case the batter looks thick, rava idli batter looks thick, then add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water to get a medium consistency. Rava absorbs water and so the batter might thicken after 20 minutes. If the curd is thick, then also you may need to add more water. If you have added more water in the beginning, then you may not need to any water at this step.
Sprinkle 1 teaspoon eno or ¼ teaspoon baking soda evenly over the batter. Quickly mix very well.

Steaming

Pour the batter in the idli moulds. Place them in the pot with the hot water. Cover with a lid and steam rava idli for 10 to 12 minutes.
To check the doneness, a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted in the rava idli should come out clean. Remove the idli plates carefully and let them rest for 3 to 4 minutes. Then with a spoon remove the rava idli.
Serve the steaming hot rava idli with sambar and your favorite coconut chutney.

Recipes

Burger Recipe | Veggie Burger

Published

2 years ago

March 29, 2024

Diaspora

Prep Time : 30 mins

Cook Time : 20 mins

Total Time : 50 mins

Ingredients

For patties

3 potatoes (medium to large), 300 grams
1 grams carrot (medium to large), 100 to 125
8 to 9 grams french beans – 40 grams
⅓ to ½ cup peas – fresh or frozen
½ cup finely chopped onions or 1 medium sized onion
1 teaspoon chopped garlic or ½ teaspoon garlic paste
2 teaspoons chopped ginger or 1 teaspoon ginger paste or ¾ inch ginger
1 teaspoon chopped green chilies or ½ teaspoon green chili paste or 1 to 2 chillies
2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) or fresh parsley leaves
½ teaspoon Coriander Powder (ground coriander)
½ teaspoon cumin powder (ground cumin)
½ teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon Garam Masala
⅛ teaspoon turmeric powder (ground turmeric)
5 to 6 tablespoons bread crumbs or add as required
salt as required
4 to 6 tablespoons oil

For batter

3 tablespoons maize flour (polenta or fine cornmeal)- substitute corn starch instead
3 tablespoons Rice Flour – substitute all purpose flour
2 tablespoons gram flour (besan) or chickpea flour – substitute all purpose flour
½ cup water

For breading

½ cup bread crumbs or crushed oats, semolina or corn flakes

For burger toppings

1 tomato (small to medium) – thinly sliced
1 cucumber (small to medium) – thinly sliced
1 onion (small to medium) – thinly sliced
4 to 5 lettuce leaves – rinsed, drained and chopped
1 tablespoon Butter or oil – as required for toasting buns
4 whole wheat burger buns – whole wheat or plain or multi grain

For mayo dressing

3 tablespoon Vegan Eggless Mayonnaise or vegan mayonnaise
½ teaspoon mustard seeds – crushed or powdered in a small spice grinder or mortar-pestle
½ teaspoon crushed black pepper
¼ to ½ teaspoon sugar or add as required
⅛ teaspoon salt or 2 to 3 pinches of salt
½ to 1 tablespoon lemon juice or add as required
½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or olive oil

Instructions

Preparing breadcrumbs

Break 6 to 7 slices of breads and add in a mixer or dry grinder. Grind to a semi-fine consistency and do not make it floury or powdery.
Take the bread crumbs in a plate or bowl. Keep aside. Skip this part if you have breadcrumbs.

Preparing veggies

Now rinse and steam or boil 3 medium to large potatoes, 1 medium carrot, 8 to 9 french beans and ⅓ cup peas till they are completely cooked. You can cook or steam the vegetables in a stove-top pressure cooker, Instant Pot or a pan. I have listed the methods below.
1: Stove-top pressure cooker: Peel and chop potatoes, carrots and beans. Place them with the green peas in a pan or bowl. Add 2 cups water in a 3 litre pressure cooker. Place a small trivet inside. Place the bowl with the veggies on the trivet. Pressure cook for 10 to 12 minutes on medium-heat. Let the pressure fall naturally in the cooker and then only remove the lid.
2: Instant pot cooking: Pour 1.5 cups water in the steel insert of 6 quart IP. Keep a trivet inside the steel insert. Place the whole potatoes, carrots, beans in a steamer pan or on the trivet. Take green peas in a small bowl and place it on the steamer pan or on the trivet. Pressure cook for 10 to 12 minutes until veggies are tender. Let the pressure release naturally.
3. Cooking in a pan: Peel and chop potatoes, carrots in small cubes. Chop the beans to small pieces. Place the chopped veggies and green peas in a pan. Add water just about covering the vegetables. Cover and simmer on medium-low flame until veggies are fork tender.
Peel and roughly chop the potatoes when warm. Also peel the cooked carrots and finely chop them. Finely chop the french beans too.
Then mash the potatoes with a potato masher.
When the mashed potatoes cools down completely, add the chopped carrots and beans. Also add the steamed peas.
Mix everything well and keep aside.
Then finely chop the onion and crush garlic, ginger and green chilies in a mortar-pestle. Set aside. You can crush them together or separately.

Making vegetable patty mixture

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan. Add the ginger-garlic-green-chili paste. Sauté for some seconds till the raw aroma of ginger and garlic goes away.
Add the chopped onions. Stir and saute till the onion turns translucent or light brown.
Add coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder, red chili powder or cayenne pepper and turmeric powder.
Stir and mix the spices with the rest of the mixture.
Switch off the flame and then add the chopped coriander leaves or parsley.
Stir very well and add this sauteed onion mixture to the mashed veggies.
Add salt and bread crumbs. Begin to mix very well.
Keep the veggie patty mixture aside. Check the seasonings and add more of the ground spices and salt if needed.
Make the veggie patties as same as the size of the burger buns. Keep aside. If the mixture looks soft or crumbles, then do add some more breadcrumbs and mix everything again very well. Cover the veggie patties and set aside.

Preparing mayo dressing and toppings

Take mayonnaise in a small mixing bowl.
Add ground mustard seed and freshly crushed black pepper
Add lemon juice. You can also lemon juice as per your taste.
Add apple cider vinegar or white vinegar and extra virgin olive oil or olive oil.
Season with sugar. Also add salt
Whisk the dressing very well. Keep aside.
Also chop onion, tomato and cucumber in thin slices. Shred or chop some 4 to 5 small lettuce leaves or cabbage leaves.

Making batter

In a medium sized mixing bowl take add makki ka atta, polenta or cornmeal , rice flour and gram flour (besan) or chickpea flour. Instead of gram flour & rice flour, you can also use 2 tbsp of all purpose flour.
Add water. Stir and mix everything to a smooth batter without any lumps. The batter is of medium consistency. Keep aside.

Pan frying patties

Heat 2 to 3 tablespoons oil for pan frying the patties in a bowl. When the oil becomes medium hot, dip the patty in the batter.
Coat evenly with the batter.
Place the batter coated vegetable patty on the breadcrumbs. Dredge the patty evenly with the breadcrumbs. You can repeat the breading method twice for more crispiness.
Place the breaded veggie patty in the medium hot oil. Bread another veggie patty in the same way and place it also in the pan. Depending on the size of your pan, you can fry from 2 to 4 patties. The veggie mixture makes 4 regular burger sized patties.
2 to 3 tablespoons oil works perfectly for frying two patties. For 4 veggie patties, you can add 4 to 6 tablespoons oil.
When the base is lightly browned or browned, then flip the patties.
Flip a couple of times more till the patties are pan fried evenly and the crust becomes crisp and golden.
Drain the veggie patties on kitchen paper towels.

Assembling veggie burger

Slice the burger buns in equal halves.
Spread some butter on the burger bun slices.
Heat a small pan and toast the butter side.
The buttered side should become lightly crisp and golden. Toast all the burger buns this way.
Now spread the mayonnaise dressing on the crisp side.
Place the vegetable patty.
Top up with sliced veggies like onion slices, tomato slices or cucumber slices.
Spread some mayonnaise dressing on the second halve of the burger bun and top up with some shredded or chopped lettuce or cabbage leaves.
Place the burger buns on top of each other.
Your veggie burger is ready. Make all veg burgers this way.

Serving suggestions

Once your veggie burgers are assembled, serve them immediately with tomato ketchup, mustard sauce and some French Fries or Potato Wedges.
If you don’t have tomatoes and cucumbers, sliced avocado or Guacamole works as a great topping as well.
Or you can use grated carrots or coleslaw as a topping alternative. These veggie burgers are great snacks, but they are also filling enough to be a tasty lunch too. This burger recipe makes four regular sized veggie burgers.