Kabuli pulao

 This is one of Afghanistan’s most popular dishes. Rice is one of the staples in Asian countries and it is usually one of the main entrees in a meal. The first time I had this pulao was at my best friend's house. Her mom had made me a vegetarian version of the pulao and it was very tasty. I especially loved the mild spices in it and the fact that it wasn’t too spicy. I loved the addition of the sweet raisins to this dish. 

I searched the web for recipes without meat and I got inspiration from a few websites/ videos. I adapted their recipes without meat.

The cooking tree: https://youtu.be/Q8mJOZXJcWc

Sam in kitchen : https://youtu.be/VHgf7SjSA_s

Afghan mazadar cooking ( pulao spice mix)  : https://youtu.be/ddn-vdO0BiU

Ingredients:

Basmati rice - 1 cup ( when cooked comes out to 3 cups )

2 cups water 

For the brown color: 

Sugar - 3 tbsp

Oil - 2 tbsp 

Water- 1 cup

Spice mix: ( grind all the whole spices and set aside)

Cumin seeds- 1 tbsp

Green Cardamom - 1 tbsp

Cinnamon sticks - 1 tbsp

Cloves - 1 tsp

Black peppercorns  - 1/2 tbsp

Salt to taste 

Pepper powder - 1 tbsp

Toppings:

Carrots - 3 large julienned ( or you can buy a bag of the thicker cut shredded carrot that is typically used for salads and get 2 cups)

Black raisins - 1 cup

Optional - slivered almonds dry roasted to golden brown 

Oil for frying - 1/2 cup 

Instructions 

1. First place a pan on the stove and Add 3-4 tbsp of oil to it and heat it up. This is what we are going to use to fry the carrots and raisins 
2. Now fry the carrots in the oil for 3-4 minutes. Drain the oil with a slotted spoon and place On paper towel to drain the excess oil.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Now use the same oil to fry the raisins. These take 30s - 45 sec. fry them until they change color to a lighter brown and plump up. Then take them out with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to drain 
   
   
   
   
   
4. Now add a little more Oil to the pan and let it heat up . Add the sugar to the oil and stir it and let it caramelize and turn dark brown/ almost burnt. 
   
   
   
   
5. Put the ground spices in the oil and stir it in to get the raw taste out for just a few seconds. Now add 1 cup of water to the pot and mix well.
   
   
6. Cook the rice ahead of time and let it cool. For this dish first you would cook the rice until it is partly cooked and eventually we will cook further with the spices. 
7. To cook rice for this dish : Wash the rice well in water until the water is clear. Then put it in a  bowl and add a little oil and mix it so the rice is coated in oil . Now soak the rice in water for 1-2 hours. Then drain the water. In a pot add 2 cups of water and some salt to taste. Now add the rice to it and let it cook for about 15 minutes.
8. Put the rice in a large mixing bowl and let it cool
9. Now we will add the caramelized sugar and spice mix that we made in step 5 to the rice and mix it in until the rice is brown. Add salt and pepper powder and mix it as well.
   
   
   
   
10. Put the fried carrots and raisins separately in aluminum foil and make little packets
    
    
    
    
11. Now place the rice in a heavy bottomed pot. Place the two foil packets on top of the rice. Then cover the pot with aluminum foil on top to seal the moisture in when the rice cooks and place a lid on top of the foil. 
    
    
    
    
12. Cook this on medium heat for 15 minutes. Once you do that the rice will be fully cooked ( but not mushy) . Then place the rice on a plate. Open the foil packets  and take out the carrots and raisins and place these on the rice. You can add toasted nuts ( optional ). Kabuli pulao is now ready to serve. 
    
    

Avocado soup

 When my mom first made avocado soup I wasn't sure I wanted to try it. She kept insisting it was very tasty and also very satisfying as a meal. I finally tried a few spoonfuls and I really loved it. The soup is thick, creamy, cool and filling and very simple to make.

Ingredients

Avocado ( large, ripe, pitted) - 2

sour cream - 1/2 cup 

milk - 1/2 cup

water - 1/2 cup

garlic cloves - 2

cilantro leaves chopped - 2 tbsp

lemon juice - 2 tbsp

salt - 1/2 tsp ( to taste)

black pepper powder - 1/2 tsp

tortilla strips - optional

Instructions

1. Cut the avocados in half, remove the pit. Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh of the avocado.
2. Add the avocado, sour cream, lemon juice, garlic cloves, cilantro, milk, water salt and pepper to a blender and grind until smooth. You can add more milk or water to get it to the correct consistency for you ( thick or watery).
   
   
   
3. Pour out into a bowl and garnish with a few cilantro leaves and tortilla strips. Add additional salt and pepper and lemon juice to taste.
4. Serve cold 

Lemon rice

Ingredients 

Cooked rice - 1 cup (cooking rice)

Lemon- 1

Salt- to taste 

Sesame Oil -1-2 tbsp ( I typically use sesame oil from the Indian store not the toasted sesame oil which changes the taste of these dishes. If you don’t have access to sesame oil you can use canola or vegetable oil too)

For seasoning 

Black Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Urad dal- Split dehusked black gram - 1 tsp 

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp 

Ginger - cut into small pieces- 1 tsp

Asafoetida - pinch

Green chilly- 1-2 de seeded and finely chopped

Curry leaf - 4 or 5

Cilantro leaves - chopped 1 Tsp

Salt to taste 

Oil - 1 tbsp for tempering the seasoning 

Peanuts - 2to 3 tbsp 

Instructions 

1. Take the cooked rice and put it in a bowl
2. Add 1 to 2 tbsp of oil to it and mix it so the rice is coated with oil
3. Cut the lemon and squeeze the juice from it into a cup  and add salt to it. Then add it little by little to the rice ( to desired tartness). 
4. Place a pan on the stove at medium heat and add a tbsp of oil to it . Place the peanuts in here and sauté them until slightly brown and set aside
5. Add a little bit of oil to the pan and heat it up and then add the mustard and urad dal seeds and let them sputter. Add the turmeric powder and sauté it .Then add the other ingredients listed in the seasoning in the order in which listed and set aside
   
   
6. To the bowl of lemon rice that has been set aside add the peanuts and seasoning and mix well. Lemon rice is now ready to serve. You can eat it with potato poriyal (potato poriyal),potato chips, papad etc.

Yogurt rice

I love eating rice with different things added to it. In South Indian cuisine rice is a staple and there are different things that can be added to rice such as sambar, rasam, kootu etc. These are different kind of gravies added to cooked white rice . There are also rice dishes called ‘variety rice’ which are rice dishes with stuff already added to them such as biryani, lemon rice, coconut rice etc.

Yogurt rice can be as simple as adding yogurt to plain white rice with a little bit of salt and mixing it together or it can be served premixed in a little fancier fashion as shown below. Yogurt rice is eaten at the end of the meal since it cools down the palate.

Ingredients

Cooked medium grain white rice (cooking rice)- 1 cup

Warm milk - 1/4 cup

Plain yogurt or sour cream- 1/2 - 3/4 cup 

For seasoning 

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Urad dal- Split dehusked black gram 1/2 tsp

Peanuts or cashews  - 2 Tbsp

Ginger - cut into small pieces- 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida - pinch

Green chilly- 1/2 de seeded and finely chopped ( optional) 

Curry leaf - 4 or 5

Cilantro leaves - chopped 1 Tsp

Salt to taste 

Oil - 1 tbsp for tempering the seasoning 

Instructions 

1. In a bowl let the rice cool down
2. Add the warm milk and mix well ( this is added to the rice so that the yogurt doesn’t get sour if serving later)
3. Add the yogurt to the rice and mix well. You want the rice in a rice pudding like consistency.
4. Place a pan on the stove on medium heat and add oil to it.
5. Now add the seasoning ingredients one at a time to the oil in the order that they are listed. Ensure the mustard seeds sputter and the urad dal gets slightly brown before adding the peanuts ( roasted until golden brown). Now add the rest of the ingredients and roast  for a few seconds.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Take off the stove. Now add the seasoning to the yogurt rice, add salt to taste and mix well.
7. Yogurt rice is ready to serve ! It can be eaten by itself or with vegetables ( poriyal)  like potato poriyal (potato poriyal) eggplant poriyal, etc. or with pickle.
   
   

Idli/dosa ( steamed rice cake/ savory crepe)

In Tamil Nadu idli and dosa are common breakfast foods. Idli is a steamed rice cake and dosa is a savory thin crepe.  Growing up I had both for breakfast quite a bit and I always preferred dosa over idli since dosas have more oil/ ghee added to them which makes them crispy and extra tasty !  But as an adult I have come to appreciate the humble steamed idli which is better for my health and tasty in its own way. 

Ingredients:

Idli rice ( par boiled rice )- 3 cups

Whole Urad dal (dehusked black gram)- 1 cup

Salt - 1 tbsp (to taste)

Water 

Instructions:

1. Soak the idli rice and urad dal in two separate bowls overnight or for at least 6 hours. 
   
   
   
   
2. Now drain the water from the urad dal and place it little at a time into a wet grinder ( you can use an American blender but may end up with coarse batter . I have used an indian ‘mixie’ like  preethi which works really well. It likely has to do with the type of blade it has). 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Grind the urad dal adding a little bit of water at time until it is a thick fluffy paste ( consistency of cake batter). This takes almost 45 minutes. Once this is ground take this out and set it aside in the urad dal bowl.
   
   
4. Now grind the rice adding a little at a time and adding a little bit of water at a time. Grind until smooth to the consistency of wet corn starch. This takes almost 1 hour. 
5. Add the rice batter to the urad dal batter and mix it well with your hands. Ensure the bowl is large so that the batter is only filling half the bowl. This will give it space to rise after its fermented.
   
   
6. Usually the batter is left out in a warm place (kitchen counter) overnight to ferment . During the winter you can ferment it overnight in the instant pot in the yogurt setting.
   
   
7. Add salt to the batter and mix well
8. Now batter is ready to use !

Idli

1. Idlis are made in a idli mould which is then put in an idli pot.2. Grease the idli mould with a little bit of oil so that the batter doesn’t stick to it.3. Use a deep spoon to get the batter and place them in the greased mould 

4. Now add water to the idli pot ( fill 1/3 of the pot ) and place it on the stove on medium heat and let the water come to a boil.

5. Now place the mould in the idli pot and close the lid

6. Allow the idlis to cook for about 15 minutes. They should be cooked by now. You can use a toothpick to check if the idli is done ( like you would cake). If the toothpick comes out clean the idlis as cooked

7. Take the mould out and let it cool.

8. You can use a spoon to scoop out the idlis 

9. Idlis are ready to eat and can be served with idli powder, coconut chutney, sambar, tomato chutney, onion chutney etc.

Dosa 

1. To make dosa take the batter and dilute it with some water. 

2. Heat a griddle pan or a crepe pan on medium heat on the stove 

3. Now pour a ladle of batter on to the middle of the pan and spread it in a thin circle as you would a crepe 

4. Put some oil on the edges to prevent the dosa from sticking to the pan. Let it cook until there are holes in the dosa (maybe about 15-20 seconds)

5. Now use a spatula to lift up the edges to see if it is golden brown.

6. Flip the dosa over and let the other side cook for a few seconds. 

7.Now take it off the pan and put it on a plate.

8. Dosa is ready to serve with idli powder , chutney , sambar etc.

Parotta (layered flatbread)

Parotta  (malabar parotta) is a South Indian layered flatbread. It is slightly different than the paratha found in most Indian restaurants here in the US. Parotta is made from maida ( bleached all purpose flour) as opposed to paratha which is made from whole wheat flour. The way Parotta is folded and rolled out is different than how paratha is made. 

I love the flaky layered buttery goodness that is the parotta. In the US it is difficult to find in restaurants and usually I find it in the frozen section of the Indian store. Until now I have avoided making it since I always thought that this would be difficult to make. But I set out to make it and it was surprising not as difficult as I thought. 

Ingredients:

Maida flour ( bleached all purpose flour)- 1.5 cups

Rava (sooji) - 1 tbsp

Salt- 1/2 tsp

Sugar- 1 tsp

Ghee- 2 tbsp

Baking powder- pinch

Water 

Oil - 3 to 4 tbsp 

Instructions

1. In a large bowl add maida, salt, rava, sugar, ghee, baking powder. Add water little at a time ( ~1/3 to 1/2 cup), mix and knead the dough to soften it until a smooth ball of dough is formed.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
2. Cut the large ball of dough and make small golf ball sized balls. Place this in a bowl and add a tbsp of oil on top and let it rest for another hour
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Roll out the balls with a rolling pin into a thin almost transparent flat round disk coating with oil as you go so it doesn’t stick to the rolling pin or the board underneath 
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. This next step can be done two ways 
5. Method 1: lift up the flattened dough lifting up by one edge and then roll it into a spiral like you would if making pinwheels 
   
   
   
   
6. Method 2: cut the flattened dough into thin strips , gather up the strips and then roll into a spiral 
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Now flatted the spiral by hand and then roll it slightly to make a flat round disk yet again ( one with layers now ) 
   
   
8. Place a pan on medium heat and now add a little butter or ghee ( clarified butter) and place the parotta on it and cook until a side is golden brown making sure you flip it back and forth ( like a tortilla) so both sides are cooked. This may take 1-2 minutes total 
   
   
9. Set aside to cool on a plate and then place your hands on either side of it and crush it slightly so the layers come apart and the parotta now has many flaky layers 
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. Parotta is now ready to serve with vegetable kurma , ‘ Saravana Bhavan’ hotel style white kurma, or onion raita 
    Adapted from : https://youtu.be/47fRmufjdQ4