Rice Wade

Rice wade / rice pooris is in my to-do list for a long time. Somehow I was skeptical about the outcome. All I knew was pooris out of wheat flour and maida. And I have not heard of this before. Nevertheless, I was tempted to try it, when I saw the recipe in Sanjeev Kapoor's Dal-Roti book.

I was not disappointed with the end result. Only thing unlike regular pooris, this cannot be rolled with a rolling pin , but each one had to patted with the fingers.

Here is the recipe

Rice flour - 2 cups

fennel seeds (saunf) - 2 tblspn

fenugreek seeds(methi) - 1 tblspn

salt to taste
water - 1 1/2 cups

Oil for deep frying

Boil 1 and half cups of water with fennel and methi seeds for about five minutes. This is to extract their flavor.Strain and reheat the water. Stir in the salt and rice flour to water. Stir continuously till it comes together and the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Transfer the dough to a bowl. If you want you can add some grated onion to the dough at this stage. I did not add. Grease you palm with oil and pinch off a lemon sized dough. Pat it to the shape of a poori , using your fingers. Heat oil in a kadai and deep fry till it is golden and cooked. Drain on absorbent paper and serve hot.

It did not puff much for me. May be on next attempt ,I will improve. It is the first time I am tasting this. I liked it with the subtle flavor of saunf and methi. Its indeed a good alternative to our regular pooris. I served with simple moong dal tempered with the usual mustard, green chilly, grated ginger. Since I had prepared on an no-onion day, there is no onion in the side too.

Rice Wade goes to Think Spice Think Fenugreek event, guest hosted by Kittie

And also to Herb Mania - Fenugreek hosted at Redchillies

On a different note:

Have a look at the pookalam done by my parents at my sister's home in Gurgaon.

Ragi oothappam

Ragi is rich in calcium, protein and fiber. It's been quite sometime since I tried Mrs. Chithra Viswanathan's recipe. So I made it for dinner today. I liked it and here is the original recipe. I will jot down the recipe here as well for future reference.

Ingredients:
Ragi flour - 1 cup
Boiled, peeled and grated potatoes - 2 medium size
Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt
Hing- a pinch
Chopped coriander leaves - 1 tbsp

Method:
Mix all the ingredients with water to dosa batter consistency.
Make oothapams as usual smearing oil on both sides.
Serve hot with idly podi or chutney.

Quick Vegetable fried rice - no onion and no garlic, yet tasty!

This rice is mild and aromatic. Use of ground pepper adds a lot of flavor to this dish.

Ingredients:
Basmathi rice - 1 cup(uncooked)
Veges finely chopped - beans(1/4 cup), carrot(1/4 cup) and cabbage(1 cup)
Spring onions - chopped - 1 tbsp
Salt as needed
Ground pepper- to sprinkle
Oil - 3 tbsp

Method:
Wash and soak the rice for 15 minutes.
Cook rice till done. Set aside.
Heat oil in a pan. Stir fry the veges(except spring onions) on medium high heat just for 5 minutes. (chop beans and carrot to very tiny pieces as they are fried only for a few minutes). They should not be fully cooked. Veges should still be crunchy after frying.
Now add salt, spring onions, cooked rice and sprinkle ground pepper as needed to the veges. Mix well and serve with ketchup.
It is optional to add fried cashewnuts.