Haleem/ Vegetarian Haleem Recipe

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter H
Theme: A-Z Vegetarian Dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: H for Haleem/ Vegetarian Haleem

Letter H stands for Hyderabad, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabadi cuisine is not only famous for its rich and spicy Biryanis and curries but also for equally rich and decadent desserts. Hyderabad's cuisine is an amalgamation of Mughlai, Turkish and Arabic along with the influence of local Telugu and Marathwada cuisines.

Utmost care is taken in choosing the spices and other ingredients for the dishes. Therefore the addition of a certain herb, spice, condiment or a combination of all these add a distinct flavor and aroma. The key ingredients are coconut, tamarind, peanuts and sesame seeds which are used extensively in main dishes. 

Even though I grew up in Hyderabad, I have no knowledge of the actual 'Hyderabadi' dishes. We were never big on eating out and there were only handful of Hyderabadi dishes that my mom would make for us like Bagara Baingan and Mirchi ka salan.

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Maharashtrian Masala Bhath

Blogging Marathon# 29: Week 3/ Day 1
Theme: Course Wise Meal from any State - Maharashtra/ Lunch Dishes
Dish: Masala Bath

Today we start 3rd week of Blogging Marathon (BM# 29) and my theme for this week is 'Course Wise Meal from any State'. I wanted to try dishes from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra or Uttar Pradesh. Luckily I found a newspaper cutout with Maharashtrian recipes that my MIL got for me 3 years ago.

For the first day I made Masala bath from the paper. It is a one-pot dish, that is spicy, filling and packed with vegetables. I love these kind of dishes where you put all the ingredients in one pot and don't have to worry about side dishes, convenient for weeknight meals.

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Goan Mixed Vegetable Curry

Pressure cooker is a quintessential equipment in any Indian kitchen. I own 6 pressure cookers in different sizes, shapes and materials -- stainless steel, aluminum and hard anodized. Each one has its own purpose, one can fit the idli stand, one cooks for a crowd, one for 2 and so on. More than a couple of them have served me well for the past 12+ years. Fortunately I've never had an accident in my kitchen (touch wood).

So when Jaya posted about a cookbook author belittling my beloved kitchen equipment, I wanted to show my love to my pressure cooker by posting about it. Like any Indian, I cook rice, lentils, beans, veggie curries etc in the pressure cooker. In today's recipe I used the cooker to cook the veggies and give me a head start in making the curry. 

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Pressure Cooker Curried Butternut Squash Risotto

Hope everyone celebrating Thanksgiving had a good time this weekend. 4 day long weekend flew right by. We spent most of the weekend at my cousin's place and returned home in the afternoon today. We were hungry from the long drive and I wanted to make something real quick with minimum effort. So I made this one pot pressure cooker risotto with butternut squash from Nupur's blog.

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Corn & Carrot Rice

Finally we had our first Snow of the season this weekend. Not that I was missing the snow, but I get a little paranoid when weather is not normal for a season, it makes me think of global warming and it's extreme effects. Well for now, I can be rest assured that real winter is here and will probably be here for sometime. 

For this month's Taste & Create, being hosted by Min of Bad Girl's Kitchen, I got paired with Veena @ Veg Nation. Veena blog has tons of delicious vegetarian dishes and I had quite a few bookmarked to try. But as always got busy with other things and was able to make 2 of dishes. One is this easy peasy Corn rice and the other one is the Spring onion Dal. I couldn't take pictures of dal since I made it on a weekday and had no time to take the pics.

 

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Ven Pongal & Gosthu

For Day 5 of BM# 10 under Winter Special theme, I have a very comforting and hearty combo, Ven Pongal & Gosthu. I'm sure these dishes are made all year round, but a hot bowl of pongal with the hearty vegetable & lentil curry just warms you up from within, making it a very special winter dish in my opinion. 

Recipe for Ven Pongal is adapted from Chandra Padmanabhan's Dakshin cookbook and I made Suganya's gosthu to go along with it. A perfect way to end a looong day of shopping. 

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Methi-Paneer Pulao (Fenugreek Leaves & Cottage Cheese Pilaf)

For Day 5 of our blogging marathon I made this quick and easy one pot rice dish. Recipe is adapted from Vidhu Mittal's Pure & Simple: Homemade Indian Vegetarian Cuisine cookbook. I had borrowed this book from the library and I was really impressed with the way the recipes were laid out and the mouthwatering pictures. I had to return the book, but I jotted down the recipes that I really wanted to try and this Methi & Paneer Pulao is one of them.

Original recipe was made in a pan, but I used my pressure cooker to make it quicker. I added some carrots for added nutrition and some biryani masala for some spice. 

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Mili Jhuli Subzi (Mixed vegetable Curry)

We are on for another round of Blogging Marathon. Thanks to Valli for accommodating 14 more enthusiastic bloggers as Group 2 for the 2nd round of 7 day-Blogging Marathon. Basically there are 2 groups of bloggers posting everyday for the next 7days. It was a lot of fun doing the marathon the first time around and I’m looking forward to this round as well.

To keep things simple, I chose 30 minute meals as the theme. I’m always looking for quick and easy meals for weeknights since I don’t have the energy or the time to slave for hours in the kitchen after a long work day. I try to make a big batch of sambar, dal, a rice dish and have some dosa or idli batter ready, so at least I can make something quick for my son and think about what else to make for dinner (this way he’s calm enough and lets me think of a menu). I also keep store bought frozen rotis handy. For more useful tips on making quick weeknight meals, head over to Nupur’s post, it has ton of information on how to organize and plan meals and some of her tried and tested menu ideas. Do check it out. I wish I could be at least 50% organized like her.

Coming to today’s recipe: I pressure cook a lot and I’m looking for recipes that are made in the pressure cooker. I own 4 pressure cookers of different materials (steel/ aluminum & hard-anodized) and sizes. So when I saw this recipe in Tarla Dalal’s newsletter, I wanted to try it right away. This is a great side dish with tons of veggies and super yummy gravy. We loved the slightly spicy gravy and the perfectly cooked veggies. This goes well with both rice and rotis. So all you need is to cook some rice (in another pressure cooker) or heat up those (frozen) rotis and warm up some of that leftover dal. Dinner’s served!!

Recipe adapted from Tarla Dalal.com
Ingredients:
Carrots – 1 medium, chopped
Potato – 1 medium, chopped
Green Beans – ¼ cup, chopped (I used frozen chopped beans)
Cauliflower – ¼ cup, chopped
Green peas – ¼ cup
Corn – ¼ cup
Tomatoes – 2 medium, chopped
Tomato Paste – 1tbsp
Chickpeas or White kidney beans (Cannellini beans) – ½ of 16 oz. can, rinsed and drained
Cashew Butter – 2tbsp
Salt – to taste
Sugar – 1tsp (optional)

To be ground to paste:
Onion – 1 medium, chopped
Poppy Seeds – 1tbsp
Thick poha – 1tbsp
Peppercorn – 8-10
Cinnamon stick – 2” piece
Cloves – 2
Dry Red Chilies – 3
Coriander Seeds – 1tbsp
Cumin seeds – 1tsp
Garlic cloves – 3
Ginger – 1” piece

Method:

• Soak poppy seeds & poha in water for at least 10 minutes. Chop your veggies in the mean time.
• Grind all the ingredients under paste into a smooth paste using little water.
• Heat 1tbsp oil in a pressure cooker and add the prepared paste. Sauté on low flame for 5-7 minutes or until the paste doesn’t smell raw anymore.
• Add tomato paste and chopped tomatoes. Cook until mushy, about 3 minutes.
• Add the veggies along with salt, sugar (if using), cashew butter and 1 cup of hot water, mix gently; close the lid and cook on high flame for 2 whistles (takes about 8-10 minutes).
• Let the steam release naturally, and then open the lid.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with either steamed rice or roti.

Original recipe used paneer & cream, I used cannellini beans & cashew butter instead. Add paneer along with the other veggies to the pressure cooker and proceed with the rest of the recipe. Mix in cream after cooking the veggies.

Check out what the my fellow Marathoners are cooking today!!
30 Minutes Meals:
Priya Mahadavan
Pavani

Seven Days of Salad:
lla

For Ongoing 7 Events:
Priya Suresh
Harini

Kids Friendly:
Vatsala
Jay

Seven Days of Rice:
Veena Krishnakumar
Priya Vaasu

And the Rest:
Divya Vikram
Kamalika
Padma Rekha
Suma Gandlur

Darbaari Dal

Name of this dal definitely sounds very royal and elegant. That’s what I thought when I saw this on Tarla Dalal’s weekly newsletter with Pressure Cooker recipes. My son loves dal and so I made it right away. What’s not to like about smooth, creamy and mildly spiced dal which goes well with both rice and rotis.

Ingredients:

Masoor dal (Red lentils) – 1/3 cup

Moong dal – 1/3 cup

Toor dal (Kandi pappu) – 3tbsp

Onion – 1 medium, finely chopped

Tomatoes – 2 medium, finely chopped

Ginger + garlic paste – 1tsp

Kasoori Methi – 2tsp

Turmeric – pinch

Red chili powder – 1tsp

Coriander powder – 1tsp

Cumin powder – ½ tsp

Garam masala – ½ tsp

Cumin seeds – 1tsp

Yogurt – 2tbsp

Cream – 2tbsp

Salt – to taste

Method:

• Rinse dals and soak them in water for about an hour.
• Heat 2tsp oil in a pressure cooker and add cumin seeds; once the seeds start to sputter, add kasoori methi and onions and cook until translucent. Add g+g paste and cook for another minute.
• Next add the tomatoes and all the powders and salt; cook until tomatoes turn mushy.
• Next add the soaked dals; mix well to coat them with the spices.
• Add 2½ cups of hot water; close the lid and cook for 3 whistles on high. Lower the flame and cook for 1 more whistle.
• Wait till the pressure releases, open the lid and stir in the yogurt and cream. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with steamed rice or roti.

Don't forget to leave a comment on this post to enter into the CSN Giveaway. Contest ends on Saturday night, February 5th.

Mexican Millet with Spicy Pinto beans

Mexican millet is a dish that’s been our staple for sometime now. Recipe is from Veganomicon. I made it in the pressure cooker this time and it was much quicker and easier.

Ingredients:
Millet – 1 ½ cups
Onion – 1 medium, chopped
Jalapeno – 1 medium, chopped fine
Garlic – 2 cloves, minced
Tomato paste – 2 tbsp
Tomato – 1 medium, chopped
Salt, Pepper, Lemon juice – to taste

Method:
* Pressure cook millet with 1 ¾ cups water for 2 whistles. Keep aside.
* Add 2 tsp oil and minced garlic to a large pan, heat on medium low until the garlic starts to sizzle.
* Add the chopped onion, jalapeno and sauté till the edges start to brown.
* Mix in tomato paste and chopped tomato and sauté until the tomatoes are cooked, but not mushy.
* Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cooked millet, mix well and cook for another 3-5minutes for the flavors to mingle. Check seasoning and serve along side any Latin flavored dish. I served it with spicy pinto beans, store bought salsa and guacamole.

MBP-April: One Pot Wonders

Pressure Cooker is great to use for one pot meals. My entry is Creole Black eye Peas cooked entirely in pressure cooker from Susan’s Fat free Vegan. I didn’t have peppers or celery on hand, so I used frozen mixed vegetables (carrots/ beans/ peas and corn). I served it over brown rice.