Kalyana Gothsu / Gotsu / Gosthu

In many south indian marriages you could definitely taste a very unique side dish called "Kalyana Gothsu" which is generally served with idli,dosa and pongal varieties. My mom made this side dish for idli and it was very good. Just for a change, try to make this dish instead of idli sambar. Process is simpler and faster too...If you like this recipe, all the credits go to my mom.

Ingredients

Brinjal - 2 Medium

Carrot - 1 Small

Onion - 2 Small Size

Potato - 2 Medium

Green Chilli - 1 Big

Tomato - 1

Moong Dhal / Payatham Paruppu / Pesara Pappu - 3/4 Cup

Channa Dhal / Kadalai Paruppu / Senaga Pappu - 2 tbsp

Sambar Powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Tamarind Juice - 3 tbsp ( Thick Juice)

Kadalai Maavu / Besam Flour - 2 tsp

For tempering

Olive Oil - 2 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 1 stem

Method

1. Soak both the dals together in one vessel for 5 minutes.
2. Wash and cut all the vegetables into small cubes and keep it ready.
3. In a small pressure pan or small pressure cooker, transfer the vegetables, green chilli,soaked dals into it.
4. Add turmeric powder, sambar powder, little salt and add enough water for the contents to get cooked.
5. Close the cooker and allow the contents to get cooked and switch off the cooker after 2 whistles.
6. After its cooled down, open the cooker and slightly mash the veggies and dals.
7. Add the tamarind juice extract into it first.
8. Add 2 tsp of besan flour / kadalai Maavu into a small cup and add little water and make a watery paste.
9. Add this watery besan paste and required amount of salt and water to the pressure cooker.
10. Allow the contents to be on medium flame for few minutes.
11. Meantime, finish the tempering process and pour them over the pressure cooker.
12. Now the Gothsu is totally ready to eat with idli, pongal or dosa varieties.

Tips

Try to add enough water along with tamarind extract and cook. Otherwise, it will look like a thick kootu. If its little watery, it would go well with the south indian tiffin.

Thanjavur Kadappa / Thanjavur Kadapa / Hotel Kadapa

In our hometown thanjavur, small hotels on road side used to give a mild yellow colour side dish as a side for Idly, dosas and it tasted very good. We used to fight for those small potatoes hiding in that gravy. That dish was called as Kadappa which was served only in Hotels. This would look like a watery spicy gravy with some small baby potatoes in it. Though I am a big fan of having Idlies with hotel sambar and chutney, I still like to have Idlies with this special Kadappa. Someone who does not like to have Idlies will definitely eat idlies with this special Kadappa dish. Though I make this kadappa dish at home nowadays, still the flavour and exact taste of those road side hotels do not even be compared to mine. Those were so unique.

Ingredients

Potatoes - 10 or 12 small

Onion - 1\2  cut into thin slices lengthwise

Moong Dal \ Payatham Paruppu \ Pesara Pappu  - 2 tbsp

Olive Oil - 2 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Dry red chilli powder --- 1 tsp

Salt -- To Taste

Jeera - 1 tsp

Cinnamon Sticks \ Pattai - 2 medium

Lavang \ Cloves - 3 or 4

For Grinding

Fresh Coconut - 4 tbsp

Sombu \ Fennel Seeds -- 2 tsp

Garlic Pods - 5 or 6 big

Green chillies - 3 Big

Khus Khus - 2 tsp

Method

1. Wash the Moong Dal and cook it to a smooth paste in a pressure cooker. Add some water to the cooked dal and keep the Dal water ready.
2. Peel the skin of the potatoes and cook them either in microwave or on the stove.
3. Grind the ingredients as mentioned above and make a smooth creamy paste of the grounded mixture.
4. Cut the onions into thin slices. Keep all the masala ingredients ready on the side.
5. On medium heat, add olive oil first. When its heated, add jeera, cloves, cinnamon sticks to the heated oil. When its roasted, add thin slices of onion and turmeric powder to the Olive Oil.
6. Fry them well for a minute till the onion becomes translucent. Add the grounded paste to the kadai and fry them very well till the raw smell of the garlic completely goes off.
7. After that, add the Dal water to the kadai. Mix them well and add required amount of salt to the contents in the kadai.
8. Add a pinch of sugar too to the kadai. Add 1 tsp of red chilli powder to the kadai.
9. Close the lid and let the kadappa gravy comes to a boil. Then, add the cooked potatoes to the kadappa gravy.
10. Close the lid and let the kadappa gets cooked with potatoes for few minutes.
11. Switch off the heat then and let the kadappa settles down for few minutes.
12. Add a tsp of lemon juice to the kadappa and garnish with coriander leaves to the Kadappa.
13. Serve this yummy gravy to any south indian tiffin varieties or roti.

Tips

• As there is a slight difference between this Kadappa and a normal potato kuruma, don't make this Kadappa gravy in a thick or semi solid state. Make it little watery but with a good punch in its taste.
• You can add extra green chillies while preparing  the creamy paste for the gravy.   As we add the Dal water too, the spice level  might get lowered in the gravy. So, its better to add one or two green chillies extra before grinding the paste itself.

Mullangi Pachidi \ Mullangi Thogayal \ Radish Pachidi

Due to the strong and pungent taste of radish, many people do not like to see radish in their plates. But due to its high nutritional value, its wiser to include radish in our regular cooking. This mullangi thogayal \ mullangi pachidi is very tasty and made with fresh, juicy radish and other spices.

Ingredients

Fresh juicy Radish \ Mullangi - 1 Big one

Urad Dal \ Ulutham Paruppu \ Minna Pappu - 2 tsp

Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Dry Red Chillies - 4 or 5

Fenugreek seeds \ Menthilu \ Vendhayam - 5 or 6 seeds

Salt - To Taste

Tamarind - 1 small pinch

Jaggery - 1 tsp

For Tempering

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Urad Dal \ Ulutham Paruppu \ Minna Pappu - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 4 or 5.

Method

Peel the mullangi skin and grate the Mullangi or cut it into small thin pieces. On a kadai, add oil first. When its heated, add Hing, urad dal, dry red chillies, tamarind, fenugreek seeds and fry them slightly on low heat till they get roasted. Take it out and transfer the contents into a mixer grinder. On the kadai, now add the mullangi pieces or grated mullangi and fry them in the same oil for few minutes till the mullangi cooks completely. After that, transfer them too to the mixer grinder. Add required amount of salt and little jaggery to the grinder and grind everything together to a coarse paste. After its done, transfer the Mullangi Chutney \ pachidi to a bowl. Finish the tempering process by adding the ingredients as mentioned. Pour the tempered oil and its contents over the chutney. Serve it with hot white rice with ghee or as a side for any south indian tiffin.

Simple Tomato Chutney \ Thakkali Chutney

With tomatoes, we can try out different varieties of chutney. One of the simplest variety of tomato chutney or pachidi is made only with the mix of tomatoes and green chillies. It goes very well with pongal, idly, dosa.. Its very easier to make with very less ingredients and the process is also quicker.

Ingredients

Tomatoes - 3 Big one

Green chillies - 2 Big or 3 Medium

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Olive Oil - 2 tsp

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 pinch

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Urad dal \ Ulutham paruppu\Minna Pappu - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 2 or 3

Salt - To Taste

Nalla yennai \ Thill Oil \ Gingelly Oil - 1 tsp

Method

Wash and cut the tomatoes and green chillies. Grind them to a coarse paste in a mixer grinder. On a thick medium sized kadai, add olive oil first. When it gets heated, add Hing, mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves for tempering. Add a tsp of turmeric powder to the oil. Finally add the grounded paste and required amount of salt to the contents in the vessel. Mix them well and fry them on a low heat till the tomato chutney reduces to one third in its quantity. Then add the gingelly oil to the tomato chutney \ pachidi and mix it well. Switch off the heat. Serve this tangy and tasty tomato chutney for any south indian tiffin variety.

Asparagus Mor Kootu / Asparagus in Coconut Curd Gravy

"Vazhaithandu Mor kootu" ( Banana stem Mor kootu) is one of my favourite dishes and I was missing that very much in US. After I tasted asparagus in one of our friends house, I decided to substitute this asparagus in place of vazhaithandu ( Banana Stem). I tried this new recipe and an excellent, tasty Mor Kootu was the result.

Asparagus is very low in calories and very low in sodium. It has numerous vitamins and good source of dietary fiber too. Now we are buying Asparagus regularly for our food. In my next posts, i will post the other recipes of Asparagus which I tried at home.

Ingredients

Asparagus - 1 Bunch

Green Chillies - 2 Medium

Jeera - 1 tsp

Ginger - 1 small cube.

Coconut shredded - 1/2 cup

Fresh Curd - 1/2 cup

Salt - 2 tsp

For tadka

Asafoetida - 1 pinch.

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Urad Dal - 1 tsp

Channa Dal - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 5 or 6

Red Chillies - 2 medium.

Method

• Steam or cook the asparagus with little salt.
• Grind the ingredients as given with little curd. Keep the remaining curd which is to be added later.
• Add the grinded paste into the steamed/cooked asparagus.
• Add some more salt to taste. When its thoroughly mixed, add the remaining curd also and simmer for a minute. Then, switch off the stove.
• Add the tadka into the asparagus gravy.
• This healthy sidedish can be served even as a raita ( by adding more fresh curd in the same process) with mixed rice at parties,get-togethers.

Aviyal - Steamed Vegetables in Coconut Yogurt Creamy Gravy

Aviyal is a delightful mix of all vegetables in a creamy yogurt sauce. Its a very traditional dish and mostly served in many marriages in South India. This has been one of my favourites since childhood and I very often make this at home too.Though i made this Aviyal many times, I cannot even come nearer to the version which my mom makes it till today.!!! Its very easy to make this Aviyal with an excellent taste and flavour and its equally easier to spoil the aviyal as well. To my knowledge, if the grinding mixture is of correct consistency and the vegetables are steamed to the right level, then the Aviyal is heavenly with any rice. If any of the things get wrong in the middle, then the aviyal will not be as expected. Also, i prefer to make aviyal with fresh curd only and not with sour curd. I have not added Drumsticks to the aviyal today as I don't have it at home. But drumsticks contribute more to the aviyal flavour. So, try to add atleast few drumsticks to the aviyal if you have it in abundance.

Ingredients
For Grinding
Fresh Thick Curd - 1 Cup
Fresh Coconut Flakes - 1\2 cup
Jeera - 2 tsp
Ginger - 1 Small square
Green chillies - 4 Medium
Vegetables
Carrot - 1 Medium
Potato - 3 Medium
Chow Chow - 1 Medium
Zuccini - 1 Big
Raw Banana - 1 Big
Brinjal - 2 Big
Broad Beans \ Avaraikai \ Chikkukai - 8 to 10
White Pumpkin - 1 Small portion
Tempering
Olive Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp
Curry Leaves - 1 stem
Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp
Method

1. Grind the ingredients as mentioned above into a smooth creamy paste. While grinding, add little curd only to the mixture and keep the remaining curd aside which can be added to the aviyal at the end.
2. Wash all the vegetables first and cut them into desired shapes equally. Let the pieces be not too small.
3. On a thick bottomed vessel, first place the hard vegetables at the bottom and place the other watery vegetables on top one by one.
4. Add little water and little salt into it and let the vegetables get cooked and steamed for few minutes.
5. After its cooked fully, add the grounded mixture and required amount of salt into the vessel and mix them well. Let the aviyal cook for another 2 minutes.
6. Then, add oil in a tempering pan and add the ingredients as mentioned above to the heated oil. When it sputters, pour them over the Aviyal.
7. Add the remaining curd \ yogurt into the aviyal, mix them well and switch off the heat.

Variations

You can add few drops of coconut oil to the aviyal at the end.

You can add any vegetables of your choice in the aviyal.

You can add more green chillies to make the aviyal more spicy.

Tips

Don't overcook the vegetables and make it more pasty.

Don't add sour curd \ yogurt into the aviyal which adds more sourness to the aviyal.

Simple Keerai Masiyal

Keerai Masiyal is a simple dish but with good taste and we used to have this keerai masiyal with plain pappu rice in our childhood. It's a very healthy meal for the kids. In this method, you can make Masiyal with different types of greens that are available in your place. I made this with Spinach that are abundant in our place.

Ingredients

Spinach Leaves - 1 full bunch ( Palak / Paala kura / pasalai keerai )

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Pinch

Jeera Seeds - 1 tbsp

Salt - 2 tsp

Sugar - 1 pinch

Thuvar Dal / Thuvaram Paruppu / Kandhi Pappu - Cooked 3 tbsp

For Tempering

Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Urad Dal / Mina Pappu / Ulutham Paruppu - 2 tsp

Dry red chillies - 3 medium ones

Method

• Wash the spinach leaves and cut into small pieces and put them into a thick bottomed vessel.
• Add 1 tbsp of jeera, little hing / asafoetida , turmeric powder, a pinch of sugar into the same vessel.
• Add very little water into the vessel and allow them to cook well.
• After its cooked, add 3 tbsp of cooked toor dal / thuvaram paruppu / kandhi pappu into the vessel and mash everything together as much as you can.
• Add 2 tsp of salt into the mixture and mix them thoroughly.
• Switch off the heat after a minute. Then, start the tempering process by adding the above ingredients. Pour them onto the keerai masiyal and mix well.
• Now, the healthy keerai masiyal is ready to be eaten with rice...

Variations

For more spicyness, add a green chilly slit into two halves along with the spinach leaves. And you can mash it with the spinach leaves after adding the cooked dal.

Tips

By adding a pinch of Sugar to the green leaves while cooking, you can retain the green colour in the dish even after its cooked.

For any diet menu plan, you can confidently include this keerai masiyal in your diet menu by omitting the tempering process.

Potato Kuruma

Plain potato kurma is our all time favourite and it goes well with chappathis, pulav very well. Made this creamy potato kurma for the vegetable pulav which i made yesterday. For parties, its preferable as its easier to make and its not time consuming also. I still remember the sunday morning breakfast in our hostel during our college days. I used to get up early mainly to taste the watery potato kuruma with hard dried rotis. Though the quality of those rotis were not that good, the watery potato kuruma was tasty. We tried to hunt all the potatoes hiding in that watery kuruma in our mess. That time, i did not even know that i would be making this potato kuruma by myself one day and eat. !!!!

Ingredients

Potatoes - 8-10 Medium Size

Onion - 1/2 Big or 1 Medium nicely cut into thin slices

Tomato - 1 Big One

Fresh Peas / Frozen Peas - 1 handful

Pudina / Mint Leaves - 2 tbsp chopped

Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1 tbsp

Red Chilly Powder - 2 tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 1 tbsp

For Tempering

Olive Oil - 3 tbsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Fennel Seeds - 2 tsp

Cinnamon Sticks / Pattai - 2 Medium Ones

Lavang / Cloves - 4 or 5

Cardamom Seeds - 3

Bay Leaves - 2

Anashuppu / Anise Star Seed - 1

For Grinding

Fresh Coconut - 3/4th of a cup

Khus Khus - 1 tbsp

Cashew nuts - 1 handful

Sombu / fennel seeds - 2 tsp

Green Chilly - 2 medium

Method

1. Wash all the potatoes and cook them well. After its cooked, peel off the skin and keep it ready.
2. Grind the ingredients as mentioned above in a mixer grinder. Grind it to a smooth paste and keep it ready.
3. Cut the onions, tomatoes and keep them ready too. After these three processes, we can start heating the kadai.
4. On a thick bottomed vessel, add Olive Oil first. When its heated, add all the ingredients as mentioned under "Tempering" one by one. Make sure that the heat is on a medium flame only.
5. After tempering process is done, add the onions and fry them with a pinch of salt for 1-2 minutes.
6. Add the ginger garlic paste next and fry them till the raw smell goes off.
7. Add the tomatoes next into the vessel and fry them till the tomatoes get mashy and softer. Then, add pudina and frozen peas or fresh peas into the kadai. Fry for a minutes.
8. Finally add all the powders to the mix in the kadai. Fry all of the contents in the kadai for 2-3 minutes.
9. Then, add the grounded mixture into the kadai. Add required amount of water into it.
10. Add salt to the mixture and mix everything thoroughly.
11. Close the lid and let the Kuruma gravy cooks well and let the raw smell completely goes off the gravy.
12. Open the lid and check to see whether the gravy becomes little thicker and if you feel the rawness in taste or in the texture of the gravy, allow the gravy to cook for some more time.
13. After the gravy is done completely, add the cooked, peeled potatoes into the kuruma gravy.
14. Let the kuruma cooks in open for 2-3 minutes. Then, switch off the flame and let the kurma cools and settles down.
15. Now the spicy, tasty potato kurma is ready to serve with roti, chappathi...

Variations

 You can add almonds instead of Cashew nuts in the grinding mixture.

 You can reduce the spicyness in the kurmua gravy by taking out the green chillies from the grinding mixture if its only for 

 the kids. 

Tips

 Allow the gravy to get cooked completely. If the rawness still remains in the gravy, then the kuruma wont taste very good.

 Add enough water in the beginning while making the gravy itself. If you add water at the end, after making the kuruma completely, then the kuruma's taste might change and it reduces the punch in the kuruma.

Peerkangai Milagu Kootu / Beerakaya Kootu / Ridge Gourd in pepper coconut gravy

Peerkangai / Beerakaya / Ridge Gourd is low in saturated fat and cholesterol, high in dietary fibre, vitamin C and other elements in it. The nutritional value of this Ridge Gourd highly helps in maintaining optimum health and weight loss. Both the skin and the flesh inside the vegetable are used in making different dishes. Ridge Gourd can be made as a Dal, Curry or Poriyal , kootu, thogayal, etc., I wanted to make the Kootu variety with black pepper coconut gravy as I hear lots of cough and cold at home.

Ingredients

Fresh Ridge Gourd - 2 Medium Ones

Moong Dal / Payatham Paruppu / Pesara Pappu - 1/2 Cup

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Salt - To Taste

Sugar - 1 Pinch

Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Urad Dal - 2 tsp

Curry Leaves - 1 Stem ( if you have )

For Grinding

Fresh Coconut Flakes - 1/2 Cup

Black Pepper - 2 tbsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Method

• Peel the skin of the Ridge Gourd and cut the flesh of the Ridge Gourd into small squares.
• Cook half a cup of Moong Dal in a pressure cooker.
• In a thick bottomed vessel, add the Ridge Gourd pieces first. To that, add 1 tsp of turmeric powder, Hing and a pinch of sugar and very little water and allow the vegetable to get steamed and cooked inside.
• Meantime, grind the ingredients in a mixer grinder with little water and keep the creamy black pepper coconut paste ready.
• Open the lid of the vessel and check whether the vegetable is completely cooked. If its done, add the cooked Moong Dal to the vegetable. Also, add the grounded paste and required amount of salt to the vessel.
• Mix everything together and close the lid of the vessel for the Kootu to get cooked and the gravy to get settled with the vegetable.
• When the rawness of the pepper coconut paste goes off, switch off the heat.
• On a tempering pan, add Olive oil first. When it gets heated, add Mustard seeds, jeera, urad dal, curry leaves in order. When it sputters, then pour them over the Kootu and mix well.
• Now the Spicy Peerakangai Milagu Kootu is ready to be eaten with white rice, Rasam Rice or any other rice you like. It can also be eaten with a Roti or chappathi and it tastes very good too...

Variations

You can add more Black Pepper if you want to add more spicyness to the Kootu.

You can substitute Moong Dal with other dals like Toor Dal or Masoor dal in this Kootu.

Tips

Don't add more water while cooking the Ridge Gourd as the vegetable itself oozes out water while cooking.

Try to use fresh coconut in the grinding mixture as it tastes much better than the dry coconut flakes or powder.

Spinach Tomato Dal \ Paalakura Tomato Pappu \ Keerai Thakkali Paruppu

Though there are so many varieties of greens we use in our cooking, spinach is very common and widely used in our Indian Cuisine.  Spinach like any other leafy greens is loaded with Calcium, folic acid, Vitamin K and iron. Undoubtedly, its a nutritional powerhouse and its wiser to consume this spinach atleast twice a week in our regular food. I made this Spinach Dal which is called as Paalakura pappu in andhra cuisine. It goes well with white rice and a side of any spicy fry or simple odiyallu ( Vadams ). 

Ingredients

Toor Dal \ Kandhi Pappu \ Thuvaram Paruppu -  1/2  Cup

Spinach - 1 Big Bunch

Tomato - 1 Medium

Tamarind Juice Extract - 2 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Dry Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Sugar - 1 Pinch

Green chillies - 1 Medium

For Tempering

Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Urad Dal \ Minna Pappu \ Ulutham Paruppu - 2 tsp

Channa Dal \ Senaga pappu \ Kadalai paruppu  - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 1 Stem

Dry red chillies - 2 big

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 pinch

Method

• Wash and cook the Toor dal to a fine paste and keep the mashy toor dal in a separate cup.
• Wash and cut the spinach leaves , tomato into pieces. Slit the green chilli into halves.
• On a thick bottomed vessel, add the spinach leaves, tomato pieces, 1 tsp of jeera, 1 tsp of turmeric powder, a pinch of sugar, a pinch of hing and very little water and close the lid of the vessel. Allow the contents to cook for few minutes on medium heat. No need to add more water for cooking the spinach leaves.
• After they are completely cooked, add the mashed toor dal into the vessel. Add the tamarind extract juice also into the vessel.
• Mix them well and add required amount of salt and some amount of water to make the consistency of the dal into a semi solid state.
• Allow them to cook for 4-5 minutes till everything get blended together.
• In a tadka pan, add all the ingredients as mentioned above for tempering and pour the tempered contents over the spinach dal finally.
• Switch off the heat and serve the dal with white rice and ghee.

Variations

You can add one or more sour tomato and avoid using tamarind juice extract.

You can do the tempering with half of Olive oil and half of ghee if  you are making this Dal for a festival or for functions.

You can generously add 1 tbsp of ghee on top of the spinach Dal if its made for special functions.

You can add 1 more green chilli or more dry red chilli powder to increase the spicyness of the Dal.

Tips

Avoid cooking the spinach leaves along with the toor dal in a pressure cooker. Try to cook the Dal separately and steam cook the spinach outside. In this way, you can preserve the nutrients in spinach. Also, its not a best practice to add more water while cooking the spinach leaves. Try to add very little water and mostly steam cook the spinach.

I am not a big fan of  adding all the ingredients for the pappu at one shot in pressure cooker and cook them for few whistles and adding spicy tadka at the end.

Vegetable Pulao - Type 2

I made a different style of vegetable pulao yesterday. This version requires a grounded paste of  Khus Khus, fresh coconut and little cashew nuts. Though I am not a big fan of using high calorie gravy or paste in my cooking, I made this pulao richer as I made it for my kids.  With limited vegetables, grounded paste and some indian spices, the vegetable pulao came out richer, tastier and flavourful. Just a simple onion raita is enough to finish the plate. May be...we can have few potato chips on its side. ( if you are lucky to have those!!!).

Ingredients
Carrots - 1 Medium
Potato - 1 medium
Fresh Peas - 1 Handful
Green Capsicum - 1\2 cup finely cut
Tomato - 1 Medium
Onion - 1 Small
Mint Leaves \ Pudina Leaves - 1 Handful shredded
Green Chillies - 2 Big Ones
Olive Oil - 2 tbsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Kala Jeera - 1 tsp
Lavang \ Cloves - 5 or 6
Cinnamon Sticks \ Pattai - 3 Medium
Marathi Moggu - 1
Cardamom \ Elachi - 3
Bay leaves - 3
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
Basmati Rice - 1.5 Cups
Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp
Dry Red chilli powder - 1\2 tsp
Garam masala Powder - 1\2 tsp
Salt - To Taste
Coriander Leaves - To Garnish

For Grinding
Fresh Coconut - 1\4 Cup
Khas Khas - 1 tbsp
Cashew Nuts - 2 tbsp

Method

1. Wash and cut the vegetables into small cubes and keep it ready. Cut the onion, tomato and slit the green chillies in the middle and keep it ready too.
2. Wash and finely cut the mint leaves and keep it aside.
3. Prepare the paste by adding all the ingredients in a mixer grinder with some water.. Make a rich, smoothy paste and keep it ready too.
4. Soak the basmati rice in water for few minutes.
5. On a thick non stick kadai \ vessel, add olive oil first. When its heated, add jeera, kala jeera, lavang \ cloves, cinnamon sticks \pattai, elachi, marathi moggu, bay leaves in order and fry them for a minute.
6. Add the finely cut onion, green chillies, ginger garlic paste into the kadai and fry them nicely till the raw smell goes off completely from the kadai.
7. Next add the green capsicum pieces, pudina\mint leaves and fry them well with a pinch of salt.
8. Add the chopped tomato into the kadai and fry them well till it becomes mashy.
9. Add all the finely cut vegetables into the kadai and fry them in the kadai for 2 minutes.
10. Add the turmeric powder, dry red chilli powder, garam masala powder, a pinch of sugar and mix everything in the kadai thoroughly so that the vegetables get coated with the powders nicely.
11. Now add the grounded paste into the kadai and fry the contents well for 2 minutes.
12. Add the drained basmati rice into the kadai and fry them well for a minute.
13. Now add water ( about 2.5 cups of water for 1.5 cups of Adora basmati rice ) to the kadai directly and add required amount of salt to the contents and mix them well.
14. On a low heat, allow the contents in the kadai to cook for nearly 15 - 20 minutes. After 15-20 minutes, the vegetable pulao would have risen till the edge of the kadai with a wonderful flavour.
15. Open the lid and carefully turn the pulao upside down and close the lid again. Allow them to stand on low heat for another 2 minutes.
16. Then, switch off the heat if the vegetable pulao is completely cooked to your satisfaction.
17. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with a side of onion raita and Potato chips.!!

Variations

You can cook the basmati rice separately and add the rice slowly to the cooked vegetable spicy mix and complete the vegetable pulao. In this way,  the basmati rice does not break and the look of the pulao is great. I generally stick on to this method if I make this pulao for more people.

You can add more vegetables of your choice in this vegetable Pulao.

Tips

Before starting the actual cooking process, keep all the required ingredients ready on its side. This will definitely fasten the process of cooking.

Amount of water required for cooking the pulao may differ with different basmati rice varieties. So, add water accordingly.