Easy Breezy Tarkari Pulao/Rice-Vegetable(s) Pilaf

My little one is keeping me busy with her sommersaults.....but that's not an excuse to vanish from my blog....things are just running bit fast and i find it difficult to manage yet times.....i know now you will all say it's just a moment of time and it will pass on....hang over there.....i am doing the same...taking everything as it comes.....slowly getting adjusted to sleepless night and day full work....you know i am loving it....:-)

But my mornings are still like a movie in fast forward mode. I always felt two more hands would have worked wonders.....but GOD created us with two hands and multi funtioning brain. When someone said cooking isn't a rocket science...i think it's somewhere a science, maths and law with little management involved....a whole new subject according to me....will discuss more on this some other time.

When life is on crazy run and you want to pamper yourself royally...things like ready made spice powders, pastes and chopped vegetables (ha....now we are getting trimmed and chopped mixed vegetables neatly packed in any super market) come really handy to quick fix a meal. Coming to the recipe this a one pot meal, easy when things are handy and breezy when you are lazy to cook elobrate. Scroll down to check simple and srcumptious rice vegetable pilaf.....

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups chopped Mixed Vegetables (Carrots, Potatoes, Capsicum, French Beans, Green Peas, Sweet Corn)
• 2 cups Rice, washed and soaked for 5 min
• 1 Onion, sliced
• 2 medium Tomatoes, chopped
• 2 Green chilies, slit length-wise
• 1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
• 1 Bay leaf
• 2 Cardamoms,
• 1 1" inch piece of Cinnamon
• 2 Cloves
• 2 tbsp Everest Shahi Biryani Masala
• 2 tbsp lukewarm Milk
• a pinch of Kesar/Saffron
• Salt
• Oil/Ghee
• 3 tbsp fresh Coriander leaves, minced
• 2 tbsp Mint leaves, minced

PREPARATION:

• Soak Saffron in lukewarm milk and set aside.
• In a heavy bottom cooking vessel, add oil and when oil gets heated up add bay leaf, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves. Add sliced onions and fry till translucent. Now add ginger-garlic paste and fry for 1 minute.
• Then add chopped mixed vegetables and cook for 2-3 mintues or until raw smell of vegetables disappear. Now add chopped tomatoes and green chilies. Fry till tomatoes are soft.
• Now add shahi biryani masala and give the vegetables a gentle stir. Now add soaked rice, salt and give gentle stir.
• Add water and cook till rice is half done. Now add soaked saffron strands and minced coriander and mint leaves.
• Give another gentle stir and cook covered with a lid by placing a heavy weight on top of lid.
• Cook on low flame till the rice is completely cooked. Serve with dalcha, dahi ki chutney (onion raita) and papad.
• Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

NOTE: I used for 5 cups of water to cook 2 cups of rice. Adjust this according to your need.

VARIATIONS:

• You can use your choice of vegetables. I always trim, chop and store my vegetables in zip lock bag a day ahead.
• I liked to chop my veggies into small cubes in pulao.
• You can also use fresh ground whole spices/garam masala instead of shahi biryani masala.
• You can also add soya chunks or deep fried bread pieces.
• You can even add sprouts.
• Golden fried raisins, cashews and almond flakes impart richess in pulao.
• You can also add vegetable stock or chicken stock instead of water to enhance the taste of the recipe.

PRESSURE COOKER METHOD:

You can also make this in pressure cooker. Fry out the spices in oil, add onions and fry, now add mixed vegetables, salt and shahi biryani masala. Fry for 2-3 minutes. Add chopped tomaotes and ginger-garlic paste and fry till tomaotes are soft. Now add soaked rice, water along with soaked saffron, minced coriander and mint leaves. Cook for 2-3 whistles or till rice is completely done.

POMEGRANATE SALAD - SUMMER TIME:

Summers make you stand out of the kitchen and thinking of making a snack sometimes make me run from my kitchen. To satisfy that peckish carving in the evening, a simple pom salad works wonders. Just a drizzle of lemon juice, salt and pepper on fresh pom seeds turn them into a satisfying salad. Try it...you will love it....

SPECIAL THANKS: When i was making this post, Prathibha pinged me in gtalk and asked me, any new posts, i said i am just about to post and uploading pictures in flickr, she bumped into my flickr account and checked on photos and gave a good review......after a long i received a appreciation for my food picture from my best critic...muaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh.......love you....happy that u liked them....dhanyawadamylu Prathibha.

Quote Of The Day

Guest Blogging - Food Photography #1

As I promised a series of post's on "Food Photography", here I am with the first part of it. Sometimes during blog hopping we land into a blog and get mesmerized by not only recipes but photography too. Food photography is not just a topic that you discuss out in a single post. There are many aspects in this concept of food photography. My aim in doing this food photography series is just to bring in the light on different aspects of much talked subject in food world, food photography.

To start with we have Namitha Manoj, co-author of Collaborative Curry, who being busy on personal front graciously accepted my request, when I asked her to do a post on food photography. Namitha through her blog takes us on a virtual treat of yum delicacies. Her pictures are so perfect and tempting that we often feel like grabbing them right from the screen. As there are many aspects in food photography, Namitha choose to deal with Food Styling and Composition. I must say Namitha has done a fabulous job in this making this post. Scroll down to see what she says about food styling and composition.

I would like to thank Lubna for giving me this wonderful opportunity to write my first guest post! I was surprised and flattered when she asked me if I could write about styling and composition in food photography. I knew I would write about it some day on my blog, but since Lubna’s request came before that, I decided to write one here. I will talk about styling and composition in food photography, the way I understand it. I am in no way an expert, this is just a humble effort to share what I know. You may differ about some of the points I will make and I encourage you to write and let me know about them. If you agree, I am not averse to compliments either.

The topic of food photography is vast and beyond the scope of one single blog post. Therefore here is just a snippet of what I have learned over time. Hope it will be helpful to you.

FOOD STYLING

Less is more that's my motto when it comes to food styling. I try to avoid any crowding in my pictures. When tempted to use several things at the same time as props, I step back and look hard to delete or add props until I am sure the props do not overpower the food. This can be mostly achieved if we use props related to what you have cooked, like raw ingredients sprinkled around or focusing only on a pretty garnish.

IMAGE SOURCE: Peter Reinhart's Buttermilk White Bread

The color composition is also important. When choosing props, if we keep the color to contrast the food, or sometime match it, the overall appearance is more appealing.If you are a beginner, I would recommend taking a lot of pictures with various napkins, flowers or any other prop you choose to use, until the photograph is pleasing to your eyes.

IMAGE SOURCE: Kurukku Kalan

Talking about serve ware, which plays a major part in food photography, I prefer white. It is a personal choice and no golden rule of thumb. You may use different color server ware and still render amazing photographs. But in my experience, starting with white as a canvas is helpful. It gives us time to learn how to use colored napkins, flowers or any other prop you may use to your advantage to make pretty photographs.

Capturing the texture of the food itself can be an amazing way to showcase your food to make people go, wow! For example if I say moist chocolate cake, then I should be able to make you believe by focusing and showing it in the photograph. A close-up with out the nuances of props can be delightful to achieve this end.

IMAGE SOURCE: Moist Chocolate Cake

COMPOSITION IN FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY:

Composition is the placement of elements that make a photograph. Basically, how you frame your photograph. In food photography, food is obviously the main focus - and everything around it is to enhance, or draw the eyes of the viewer to the food. The way each photographer chooses to do this depends on his own perspective. But since there are rules laid down by artists and photographers over time, I will talk about some of the general rules that I picked up along the way. Today, when I look back on the pictures I took earlier, I wish I could click them again. Therefore, it is good to know some basic rules.

As in any picture, whether photograph or a piece of painting, the golden rule is the rule of thirds. When you divide the picture into 3 equal parts, both vertically and horizontally, your subject should in the place where the lines intersect,the most eye catchy place. This need not always be the middle square. As in any rule, if you know the rule well, you will know how to break it too ;-)

Another rule will be the rule of lines. Make horizontal, vertical or diagonal lines with the elements to draw the eyes in. It can be just the prop arrangement or the lines on a table or a table cloth that you use. Though this is not a food picture, I thought I can explain the lines in a photo easily using this picture. Note the triangles made of flowers and the vertical lines on the table and diagonally placed utensil. These are some examples to show how to incorporate this rule.

IMAGE SOURCE: Happy Vishu

Making geometrical patterns and shapes in your picture also gives visual appeal to a photograph. For example, in this picture of lassie, note the triangle forming achieved by the placement of the glasses.

IMAGE SOURCE: Strawberry Lassi

I use my viewfinder as my canvas and crop the picture to my liking before taking the shot. But you can always crop in post production. If you see that some part should be removed to render a better composed picture, go ahead, do it!

Finally, from one food photographer to another, the only rule is to take photos that inspire our viewers to grab the food right from their screen and eat it. For every other rule, break it or keep it as often as you want until the previous rule is met. Most importantly, enjoy every photo you take and take it often.

You can follow Namitha at her blog and her photostream at flickr.

All the images and content are sole property of Collaborative Curry.

Thank you Namitha for accepting my request and making a perfect post. Hop down to Namitha's Collaborative Curry to gratify your senses. This is just an beginning.....more on food photography in coming days. Comments and suggestions are most welcome.....

Anday Ka Khagina/ Simple Egg(s) Recipe and Toor Dal Powder

After potatoes, eggs are something which are always handy in my pantry. I think eggs also play versatile role in my day to day cooking. A simple egg bhurgi can go with roti’s and paratha’s, scrambled eggs/sweet scrambled eggs with bread, cheese omelet to satisfy that untime hunger, sweet dish like egg pudding to pamper tastebuds, boiled eggs for that extra punch of protein and energy, lot more variations make these eggs always merrier to me…..

Coming to today’s post, it’s yet another simple recipe with eggs along with handy ingredients. If you are like me, who likes eggs and love variety in cooking, then go for this. Hot white rice, khatti dal/meethi dal and this egg recipe makes a complete meal to me. Try it to taste it!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 Eggs
• 1 Onion, sliced finely
• 1 Green chili, slit length-wise
• ½ tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
• 1 tbsp Red chili powder
• ¼ Turmeric powder
• ½ tbsp Coriander powder, optional
• 2 tbsp Coriander leaves, minced
• Salt
• Oil

PREPARATION:

• Add oil to a wide heavy bottom cooking vessel and to this add sliced onions, green chili, ginger-garlic paste, red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and salt. Sauté for 1-2 minutes till all the spices get completely mix up with each other.
• Pour half a cup of water and cook covered till onions are soft. Using a spatula, gently mash the onion mixture (not completely). Reduce the flame and evenly spread the mixture using spatula. Crack open the eggs and drop down separately (i.e. one besides the other leaving little gap) on the mixture.
• Cook covered for another 2-3 minutes or until eggs are completely cooked. Don’t stir.
• Garnish with fresh minced coriander and serve hot with chawal, dal aur papad.
• Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

VARIATIONS:

• You can pressure cook sliced onions with rest of the ingredients (leaving eggs) and when onions turn soft, add eggs. Cook till under.
• My Mom-in-law adds chopped tomatoes to give nice color and flavour.
• You can even add cumin/jeera for extra flavour.

KANDI PODI/TOOR DAL POWDER/GUN POWDER:

Kandi podi/ Toor dal powder also popularly known as ‘Gun Powder’ is a simple and flavorsome lentil and spice mixture. Podi’s/spice powder’s are much common in South Indian meals. When you are having a full course south Indian authentic meal, first two-three morsels are consumed by mixing hot steamed rice with ghee and spice powder. My little research on google shows me that the name gun powder is used to refer this podi because of its spiciness coming for hot dry chilies. A simple podi like this comes handy when you make stir fries like okra, brinjal and tindora. Just a spoonful of this spice mixture on top of these fry gives a new taste to the recipe. Also comes handy when you are in hurry to cook and run out of vegetables.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup Toor dal/Red Gram/ Kandi Pappu
• ½ cup Urad dal
• 9-10 dry Red chilies
• 1 tbsp Cumin seeds
• ½ tbsp Coriander seeds
• ½ tsp Asafoetida/hing
• 15 fresh Curry leaves
• Salt
• Oil

PREPERATION:

• Dry roast toor dal and urad dal separately, on a low flame tossing regularly until they turn nicely red (Don’t burn them). Set aside.
• In the same pan dry roast cumin and coriander seeds separately for 1-2 minutes on low flame. Set aside,
• Now add little oil to a heavy bottom coming vessel and fry dry red chilies, curry leaves separately.
• Once cooled, grind the ingredients to coarse powder by adding salt and asafoetida. Store in a air-tight jar.

This lentil-spice powder is going to participate in MLLA-35 hosted by Kannada Cuisine, event by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

SPECIAL NOTE:

Most talked about topic on food is food photography. Currently ‘Food photography’ is hot and happening subject. Some do it out of interest and some out of passion. With so many queries in mind and unlimited resources on photography, I often feel, I am lost somewhere. Some topics on photography just make my head spin and some are simple to understand. To make things simple in food photography, I thought of making a series on food photography with bunch of foodie bloggers, whose food photography speak volumes on the subject and with just a click make you lure and carve for those delicacies. Wait for my coming post to know more on this…….