Gujarati Kichadi With Kadhi

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Gujarati cuisine is termed as "the haute cuisine of vegetarianism". I love gujarati cuisine but never prepared at home so I wanted to start with a very simple n delicious combo. I choose gujarathi kichadi and kadhi.

Gujarati kichadi is rice & lentil cooked in a porridge style and kadhi is a yogurt based soup that goes well with it ..It had a soothing unique flavor n also a complete meal by itself.

Gujarati Kichadi

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice
• 1 cup mung dal
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp chopped ginger
• pinch of hing
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 1/2 tsp whole black pepper
• 2 green chilli
• 2 tbsp clarified butter
• 6 cups water
• salt to taste

Cooking Procedure:

Soak rice n dal together for 15 min. Boil the six cups water in a deep bottom pan.

Heat ghee in a pan, add cumin seeds,cinnamon stick n black pepper fry for a min then add hing, chopped green chilli, ginger fry for 30 sec. Add soaked rice n dal stir for 1 min.

Now shift all the above mixture to the boiling water,add salt n turmeric powder n cook on a medium flame, stir occasionally till the rice is cooked.

Gujarati Kadhi

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Ingredients

• 2 cups plain yogurt
• 3 cups water
• 3 tbsp chickpea flour
• 1 tsp chopped ginger
• 2 chopped green chilli
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

For tempering

• 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 dry red chilli
• 2 tbsp coriander/cilantro leaves
• 1 spring curry leaves
• 1 tsp oil
• salt to taste

Cooking Procedure:

Take a deep bottom pan n mix all the ingredients except tempering to a smooth paste n heat on medium flame till it boils.

Prepare the tempering with 1 tsp oil in a frying pan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and fry till it splutter.Then add red chilli,curry leaf n fry for 30 sec. Add this tempering to the above mixture n let it cook on medium flame for ten min.Add salt to taste n chopped cilantro.

Serve hot with kichadi.

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Tags: Gujarati Cuisine, Gujarati kichadi, gujarati kadhi

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SWEET POTATOES FOR TWO

This was a hard side dish to photograph. You'll just have to trust me, that it is delicious. We get very tired of the same old baked potato or scoop of rice, so this was an excellent change of pace.
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Whipped sweet potatoes, sweetened with brown sugar, butter and vanilla, then baked with a crunchy brown sugared pecan topping. Even my ultra-picky Hubby loved this one.
Don't go by the photo, it tastes great!!

1 cup of mashed sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons beaten egg*
1 tablespoon melted butter
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip everything with an electric mixer until smooth. Place in a 3 cup (greased) baking dish and top with the following topping. Bake at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes or until hot.

TOPPING
4 tablespoons chopped pecans
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon white flour
1 tablespoon butter
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Mix topping ingredients (fingers work best) and spread evenly on top of sweet potatoes before baking.

NOTE: I had reservations about the pecans, but they are a wonderful addition to the dish. They are sweet, tender and crunchy and a nice contrast to the soft potatoes, I highly recommend you add them.
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NOTE: Recipe calls for two tablespoons of egg. I just put an egg in a cup and mixed it well with a fork, then measured out the amount.
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NOTE: This recipe makes two large servings. If you want more servings, just multiply the ingredients. It's pretty fool proof.

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Roasted Bell Pepper Hummus

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Mediterranean food is a favourite at home nowdays, earlier I had posted homemade pita bread n falafel with tahini sauce, however no mediterranean cuisine is complete without hummus the classic dip which can be had with fresh carrots,celery,broccoli or fresh pita bread.

Forget store bought hummus that's been sitting on the shelf for weeks. It's laden with preservatives which is very unhealthy too. There are many variation of hummus n using red bell pepper is my favourite. Adding roasted bell pepper gives it a nice smoky flavor. Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups chickpeas (soaked overnight)
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 2 tbsp chopped onions
• 2 tbsp tahini sauce
• 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp paprika or 1/4 red chilli flakes
• 3 tbsp chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 10 olives

Cooking Procedure:

Pressure cook the chickpeas with cup water, after 1 whistle switch it off n let it cool.

Roast the red bell pepper greased with oil on medium flame or in a oven for 15 min at 400 F. Peel the skin off n wash nicely if roasted on flame.

Grind all the ingredients with chickpeas n bell pepper except olive oil to a smooth paste.

Garnish with a topping of green olives n olive oil and serve with pita bread.

I am sending this roasted bell pepper hummus to

A.W.E.D.MENU hosted by niloufer started by DK

CWF: LB - Chickpeas hosted by Nithu and started by Kiran

MLLA 27 an event by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook.

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Tags: Mediterranean, Dip, Chutney, Chickpea

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