Simple and Tasty Peas Pulao - Kids Special

Cooking for kids(My son Pranav is 6 years old) cannot be treated as a minor task. It should be tasty, less spicy and attractive according to them. If you ask the moms, they would say that it should be healthy and easy to cook!

Though we may not be able to satify all these criteria on a daily basis, we try to balance it as much as possible. Yesterday, I made this simple Peas pulao and I think it satisfied all the criteria!!!

But even after all this, the neighbour's simple food may be tastier for them!!! Can't blame the kids, we ourselves sometimes behave like that!

Ingredients

Basmati Rice – 1 ½ cups
Fresh / Frozen Peas – 1 ½ cups
Black Cardamom -1
Green Cardamom – 4
Cloves – 4-5
Cinnamon – 1 small piece
Green Chillies – 2
Garlic – 4 cloves
Onions – 2 chopped
Bay leaves – 2
Garam Masala powder – 1 tsp (optional)
Ghee – 2 tablespoons

Procedure

1. Clean and then soak Basmati rice in water for 20 minutes.
2. Heat ½ spoon ghee in a cooker (I use Hawkins Handi cooker) and add bay leaf, black cardamom, rice and water and pressure cook the rice. I used 2 cups of water for the 1 ½ cups of rice and kept it for 2 whistles.
3. While the rice is cooking, cook the peas in microwave for 3 mins.
4. Add the remaining ghee in a big kadai and add all the spices, onions and fry well.
5. Add the peas and cooked rice, salt and garam masala powder.
6. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and fried cashew nuts.

Variation
You could grind the spices along with garlic, green chillies and coriander leaves for more spice instead of adding them as it is.

Raw Tomato dry Subji / Thakali Kai podi karameedu

I love raw tomatoes a lot and try out various dishes or curries with it. You will have to patiently pick out raw tomatoes from the load of tomatoes as it may not be sold as a vegetable in itself. I'm lucky because my father-in-law does the vegetable shopping at home!!!
This tangy and spicy dish is great with plain rice or curd rice. You can try this same procedure with brinjal, ladies finger and capsicum too.

Ingredients
Raw tomatoes - 1/2 kg
Oil - 2 tablespoons
Homemade Curry Powder - 4-5 tablespoons
Coconut - 4-5 tablespoons
Salt- to taste
Curry leaves- a few
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Asafoetida/Hing - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
For Curry powder
Channa Dhal - 1/2 cup
Urad dhal - 1/2 cup
Corriander seeds - 1 cup
Red chillies - 10
Dry roast all the ingredients and grind it into a coarse powder. It stays fresh for nearly 3 months if stored in an air tight container.

Procedure
1. Cut the raw tomatoes into quarters and keep it aside.
2. Heat oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds, hing, turmeric and curry leaves.
3.Add the raw tomatoes and salt and saute' for a few mins till the tomatoes become soft. Please ensure that the tomotoes don't get mashed.
4. Add the homemade curry powder lavishly along with grated coconut and remove from the stove.
5. Serve hot with plain rice or curd rice.

Kadai Dhokla

I saw this recipe in one of the TV programs and tried it out. All of us liked it a lot. In this kadai dhokla, the inside part is soft and the crust is crunchy. This crunchy and soft combination was a really different experience....

Ingredients

Rava - 1 1/2 cups

Carrot and capsicum chopped finely - 3 tablespoons

Ginger paste - 1 tsp

Gn. chillies paste - 1 tsp

Curd - 1/2 cup

Eno fruit salt - 1 tablespoon

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Water - 1 cup

Oil - 3 spoons

Mustard - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - a few

Procedure

1. Mix all the ingredients except oil, mustard and curry leaves and keep it aside.

2. Heat oil in a kadai and add the mustard seeds and curry leaves.

3. Then add the prepared mixture and spread it evenly on the kadai and close it for 10 minutes.

4. Remove the lid and check if its cooked (you may use a fork or a knife and prick it. If it comes out smoothly, then the dhokla is done. )

5. Remove from the stove and allow it to cool. Use a laddle to slowly invert the dhokla on a tray.

6. You'll see the crunchy part of the dhokla on top now.

7. Serve the kadai dhokla with tomato sauce or corriander chutney.

Vegetable Pulao

Vegetable pulao is such a common rice variety in almost every home, both in North India and south India. Each one makes it in a different way. I too have tried different versions and finally I've settled down with this version.

Last Friday was my firend Vidya's birthday and we had a potluck party for the ladies and kids..I had made this vegetable pulao and it was equally liked by the kids and the moms. This pulao is not too spicy.

Ingredients

Carrot, Beans, Cauliflower, Potatoes - 1 1/2 cups cut length wise

Capsicum - 1

Onions - 2 medium sized

Ginger -1 inch piece

Garlic a few cloves

Cardamom - 3

Black cardamom - 1

Cloves - 3

Cinnamon - 1 small piece

Green chillies - 2

Bay leaves - 2

Ghee - 3 tablespoons

Kismis / dry grapes - handful

Cashew nuts - a few

Coconut Milk - 1 cup

Curd - 1/2 cup

Basmati Rice - 1 1/2 cups

Salt - to taste

Corriander leaves - for garnish

Procedure

I use Hawkins Handi cooker so that I can directly cook the pulao in the cooker.

1. Heat ghee in the cooker and add the bay leaf and onions and saute till the onions turn light brown.

2. Wash basmati rice in water and drain the waterand keep it aside .

3.Dry roast cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, kismis and allow it to cool.

4. Dry roast the garlic a little bit and allow it to cool.

5. Grind ginger, garlic,green chillies and the roasted masala items.

6. Add the ground masala and curd to the cooker and fry well for 10 mins.

7. Add the vegetables and coconut milk and mix well till the whole mixture is thick(it should not be watery at this stage).

8. Slowly add the rice, water and salt and close the cooker. For 1 1/2 cups of rice and the vegetables, I add 1 3/4 to 2 cups of water. I keep the cooker for 2 whistles and then turn it off.

9. Fry the cashew nuts in ghee and mix it to the pulao.

10. Serve this vegetable pulao with any raita, papad or pickle.