Category Archives: Rice and Whole Grains
Sesame Rice ~ Nuvvula Pongali ~ Nuvvula pulgam
Sankranthi is a harvest festival celebrated by Hindus all over India with different names. Sankranthi festival dishes vary upon region but Sesame seeds and jaggery are the most commonly used ingredients in these dishes. In Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh most of the people celebrate just first 2 days which are Bhogi and Sankrathi. First day dishes contain Sesame rice and second day dishes contain meat. Ariselu ( jaggery, rice flour snack) and sesame-jaggery balls are other most commonly prepared snacks during this festival.
Beetroot Pulihora ~ Beetroot Lime Rice
Pulihora (sour rice) made with either lime juice or tamarind juice is commonly made rice dish for festivals.For the first day of Sankranthi festival (Bhogi), I made Pulihora with lime and beetroot which is huge hit in my home.
Okra Barley Dal stew ~ Barley Pappu Charu
Pappu charu, made with toor dal, tamarind juice and little seasoning is very commonly prepared stew in Andhra homes . It is a lighter version of sambar, takes less time to cook and is good with steamed rice. Many Variations like Benadakaya(Okra) pappu charu, Vankaya(Brinjal) pappu charu, Munnakkaya(Drumstick) pappu charu and Mullangi(Radish) pappu charu are famous. It can be cooked without vegetables too.
Quinoa Pulihora
Quinoa (pronounced as keen-wah) is a pseudo-cereal which is not technically grain or cereal, but in general we consider it as a wholegrain. When compared with white rice, quinoa has very good amount of protein and less carbohydrates. The protein in quinoa is considered good protein since it has all nine amino acids. Quinoa is a very good source of protein and is gluten free and so it is a healthy option to consider for people who are intolerant of gluten.
Brown Rice Vegetable Pulav
Vegetables are integral part of our meal. It is recommended to have 2½ cups of vegetable serving per day for a person with a daily energy requirement of 2,000 calories. But as a south Indian I used to have lots of white rice with small amount of vegetable curry along with stew and yogurt. In my weight reduction program, I made it a habit of eating lots of vegetables with minimum carbohydrates and good amount of protein. In this recipe you can observe that I used equal measurements of cooked rice to vegetables.
Oats Daddojanam ~ Spiced Curd Oats
I use oats almost every day as hot cereal in my breakfast or oat bran in Wholegrain Roti , but using oats in Indian recipes is not common at my home. So, Yesterday I wanted to include this whole grain in Saddula Bathukamma prasadam and tried simple recipe with rolled oats, low fat yogurt and seasoned with Indian spices. Next time I will try more Indian tiffins with oats.
Barley Pongal ~ Barley Katte Pongali
When I was thinking of 5 whole grain prasadam , I remembered that I bought hulled barley recently. I made barley, sprouted moongdal soup couple of times, it goes well with beans/ dal’s in soups. From there I got the idea of semi solid savory pongal with mung dal.
After making this dish, I searched in web for Indian barley recipes and got few more interesting ideas . I will try those ideas and hopefully will come out with some interesting and healthy recipes with this high fiber ingredient.
Hyderabadi Mutton Dum Biryani
There are many different types of biryanis in India. One of the most popular biryani is Hyderabadi dum(steam) biryani which is believed to be made in Nizam kitchen for the first time. There are many stories on how it was first created but the truth is that it is one of the best kind of Biryani. This biryani is steam cooked with raw mutton and Basmati (Indian long grain) rice with spices. Usually Hyderabadi dum biryani is cooked with mutton. But now a days chicken, fish and prawns are also used in making dum biryani. Any hyderabadi will crave for biryani and hopefully you will enjoy Dum Biryani prepared using this recipe.
Other popular biryani is Lucknowi biryani in which dum is done using pre cooked meat, layered with rice and spices.