Friday, September 19, 2008

Wheat in Bisibelebath and a salad

Bisibelebath with broken wheat



I use broken wheat for making pradhaman. Other than that it doesn't feature in our regular menu. So when bought for making payasam, usually there will be left over, since only a small quantity is required for the preparation. When I had some broken wheat to be used up, I was thinking of recipe where I can replace rice with wheat. I had posted pongal with wheat before. The next trial was making bisibelebath out of broken wheat. Broken wheat is not the same as wheat rava. This is coarser. Believe, broken wheat made good substitution for rice. Unless told, you cannot make out the difference. From then, I have been regularly including broken wheat in my shopping list.
Only when I searched my archived to link this to bisibelebath post, did I realise, that I haven't posted the recipe yet. So here is my recipe.

Broken wheat - 1 cup ( Usually rice is used)
Toor dal - 1/2 cup
peas(fresh/dried) -1/2 cup
chopped veggies - 1 1/2 cups (carrot/beans/potato/capsicum)
shallots/pearl onion - 15 nos
tamarind -small lemon size
sambhar powder - 1tspn (optional)
turmeric powder
salt

Seasoning
Oil
mustard seeds
red chilli - 2 nos
curry leaves
For masala
red chilli - 6 nos
coriander seeds - 1 tspn
cloves - 4
cinnamon - 1" piece
hing - 1/2 tspn
grated coconut -1/4 cup(kopra is preferred.)
If fresh coconut is used, saute them till lightly brown. Grind all the ingredients for the masala to a smooth paste.
Soak tamarind in warm water for 10 minutes and extract pulp.
Wash, broken wheat,dal and peas.If dried peas is used, soak them for 5 hours.Pressure cook them together. Keep it aside
Heat oil in a pan, add the seasoning ingredients. Saute the onions till golden. Add the chopped veggies, turmeric and salt. When it is half cooked, add the tamarind pulp. When the mixture starts boiling, stir in the ground paste and mix well. Cook for 10 minutes. Mix the cooked wheat-dal mixture to the cooking masala and mix well. Cover and cook for 5 minutes till the flavors seep in the wheat-dal combo.Heat one tablespoon of ghee in a seasoning pan. Add a teaspoon of sambhar powder and pour on top the cooking mixture. This step is optional. But it does enhances the flavor of bisibelebath. Remove from fire. Garnish with coriander and serve hot with papad.

Sprouted Wheat berry salad


I buy whole wheat to make dosa. My co-sister always sproutsome of the soaked berries. Ever since she told gave me the idea, whenever I soak berries for dosa, I keep aside a handful of the soaked berries for sprouting and use that in salad. Steam cook the berries before using for salads. These will be chewy, but very tasty. Toss in any veggies(I have used grated cucumber and carrot, onion and tomato) you have and sprinkle some salt, pepper and lime juice and teaspoon of olive oil for dressing. You can have the bowl of healthy salad as a meal by itself or use it in wraps.

Wheat berry salad is my entry to EC's : WYF- salad/soup/starter

Diet friendly bisibelebath and salad is making to Divya's Diet Food Event

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Palak Onion Pakodas


It's been quite sometime since I made deep fried foods. So today we indulged in palak pakodas for dinner. I added some onions to enhance the flavor.

Ingredients:
Besan flour-1 cup
Rice flour-2 tbsp
Salt
Chilli powder
Hing-a pinch
kasuri methi-a pinch
Coriander powder-1/4 tsp
Spinach-chopped 2 cups
Onions-chopped 1/4 cup
Oil-to deep fry

Method:
Heat oil. Take a laddle full of hot oil and mix with the above ingredients. If the mixture is dry, add very little water(less than 1/4 cup)to make a thick paste.
Take some mixture and drop it in oil until golden brown. Fry in batches.
Serve with ketchup.

Bread Upma - simple and tasty


Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
3 slices whole wheat multigrain bread(You can use use any kind)
Chopped onions-1/4 cup
Green chillies - as per taste
Tomato- 1
Hing- a pinch
Salt

To tamper:
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Jeera- 1/2 tsp
Oil- 1 tbsp

Method:
Heat oil in a pan. Tamper mustard seeds, jeera and hing.
Fry onions and green chillies till onions turn golden brown.
Add tomatoes, salt and turmeric powder. Fry for a minute or two.
Add very little water(less than 1/4 cup) to the mixture and bring it to a boil. Chop bread into small pieces and add them finally. Switch off the stove and mix well.
Garnish with coriander leaves. Voila! It's done in under 10 minutes.

I am sending this recipe to Aparna and Saffron trail for "Grain in my breakfast" event.