Arisi (Rice) Upma

This is my mother's easy recipe for Arisi Upma. It can be served as breakfast but we make it very often for dinner when we are not in a mood to make chappatis and curries. Arisi Upma goes well with just pickle or chutney.

Ingredients
for Upma

• 1 cup Raw Rice
• 1/4 cup Toor dal
• 1 tsp Pepper
• 1 tsp Jeera
• 1 tsp Salt(Adjust to taste)

for seasoning

• 1 tbsp Oil (Gingelly oil preferred)
• 1/2 tsp Urad dal
• 1/2 tsp Channa dal
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1 Red Chilli
• 1 spring Curry Leaves
• A pinch of Asafoetida

Method

1. Grind coarsely all the ingredients for the Upma (except Salt) in a mixer.  
2. Heat oil in a small pan and add mustard. When it starts spluttering add the channa dal, urad dal, red chilly and asafoetida. When the dals turn a light brown add the curry leaves and switch off the heat.
3. Take a cooker vessel and add the ground mixture and water in the ratio of 1:2. Then add the Salt and the seasoning to it.
4. Pressure cook the mixture for 3 - 4 whistles or cook till done.
5. Rice Upma is ready to be served.

Suggestions/ Notes

• To make it healthier I like to add moong sprouts to it. You may add them along with the water just before cooking in the pressure cooker (step 3). It is healthy and also very tasty.
• You may grind and store the toor dal, rice, pepper and jeera mixture (mentioned in step 1), so that you can make the upma instantly whenever you want.

Palak Paneer

Palak Paneer is everybody's favoruite and here we go for the yummy recipe..

Ingredients

• 500 gm /4 bunches / 7 cups Spinach Leaves(Palak)
• 2 Tomatoes, cut into halves  (Optional)
• 500 gm Paneer, cut into 1” pieces
• 2 tbsp Oil (Olive Oil preferably)
• 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
• 3/4 tsp Asafoetida
• 1 tsp fresh Ginger, grated
• 2 Green chilies
• 2 Cardamom
• 1" piece Cinnamon stick
• 4 cloves
• 2 tsp Coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp Cumin seed powder
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp Red Chili powder (Optional)
• 1 tbsp Kasuri Methi (dried fenugreek leaves), crushed
• 1 tsp Salt (Adjust to taste)

Method

1. Wash the spinach leaves and microwave it along with tomatoes, green chilli, ginger and 1 tbsp water in a microwave safe bowl on high for 8-9 min or till the tomato and spinach are cooked. 
2. Cool them and remove the skin of the tomatoes and puree the spinach tomato mixture in a blender along with the cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and keep aside.
3. Heat the oil in a wok and add the cumin seeds and asafoetida. When the cumin seeds turn brown add the blended spinach mixture. Add the coriander, cumin, turmeric and red chili powders and cook for 5-10 min till the raw smell of the Spinach is gone.
4. Add the kasuri methi, paneer cubes and salt and cook for 10 more minutes till it attains the desired consistency.
5. Turn off the heat and stir in the milk or cream. Serve hot with roti/naan/parata.

Suggestions/ Notes

• If you don't want to add the Tomatoes along with Spinach you may skip that but adding tomatoes add more flavour in this dish.

Sending this to  Show Me Your HITS series #4 Iron Rich foods event hosted at Erivumpuliyumm.

Homemade Paneer

Paneer is a homemade Indian cheese. It is very easy to make and is used in a variety of dishes from Appetizers to Desserts. Fresh homemade paneer can also be used instead of cheese in pasta and pizza.

Ingredients:

• 8 cups (half gallon) milk
• 1/4 cup lemon Juice

Method:

1. Boil the milk in a non stick pan/ heavy bottomed pan.
2. When the milk comes to a boil, switch off and add the lemon juice gradually till the curd begins to separate from the whey.
3. Once all the milk fat has separated from the whey the whey becomes almost transparent. If it is not, then add more of the lemon juice till it becomes transparent.
4. Drain the whey using a strainer lined with cheesecloth, or muslin cloth.
5. Wrap the curds in a muslin cloth, rinse under cold water, and squeeze well.
6. Hang the paneer in the cloth for 10-15 min to drain the remaining water.
7. If your recipe calls for scrambled paneer, use it as it is.
8. If you want to set the paneer and slice it into cubes, then place the paneer covered in the cloth under a heavy weight for 1-2 hours.
9. Cut the paneer into cubes and use it in your favourite dish. Store the remaining in a Ziploc bag and refrigerate or freeze it.

Raw Banana Stir Fry

Vaizhaikai / Raw banana stir fry is a very tasty side dish that goes well with Sambar / Rasam rice. This recipe serves 3.

Ingredients

• 1 big Raw Banana
• 1/2 tsp Salt (Adjust to taste)
• 1 tsp Sambar Powder
• A pinch of Asafoetida
• 2 tbsp Oil
• 1/4 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1 tsp Urad dal

Method

1. Cut the ends of the raw banana and then cut it into 2 halves. Pressure cook the raw banana for 1 whistle or until cooked but firm.
2. Peel the skin of the Raw banana and slice it into thin rounds.
3. Heat oil in a wok and add the mustard. When it starts spluttering add the Urad dal. When the dal turns a golden brown add the asafoetida and the sambar powder. Add the cooked raw banana and stir carefully so as to not break or mash the bananas.
4. Cook on medium flame for 10-15 min stirring only occasionally till it becomes crisp. Sprinkle the Salt and stir well.
5. Cook for a few more min and serve.