Paneer Fried Rice

Ingredients:
2 cups rice
1 green pepper thinly cut
1 small onion thinly sliced
½ cup peas
1 small bell pepper thinly cut
½ cup sliced mushrooms
1 inch cinnamon stick
3 bay leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp butter
1 tsp garlic paste
½ teaspoon garam masala
1 cup grated paneer

Method:
Precook the rice in a cooker with the bay leaves and cinnamon stick in it with a tsp butter. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the cumin, garlic paste, green pepper onions, bell pepper, mushrooms and peas and saute till cooked. When the vegetables are soft add the garam masala and paneer and sauté for a 2-3 min. Now add the cooked rice and mix well while cooking on low flame for upto 5 min. Take off the flame and serve
Serve hot or cold with raita or curry of choice.

Tips: Makes a quick one pot dish with precooked left over rice.

About this site

Traditional Indian cuisine is very elaborate, nutritious and delicious. It is a well known fact that lot of time and effort goes into preparing those delicious dishes. Our mothers and grandmothers used to put in hours of toil and love to cook scrumptious food at every meal. In today’s busy world where both parents work , mothers are pressed by time to make those elaborate meals.
I am a working mother of two pretty girls and a wonderful husband, who is a food lover and a great occasional cook himself. From my experiences and efforts to bring forth to my family a healthy delicious food at every meal, I have created this collection. It is solely inspired from the mouth watering recipes my mom and grandma used to make. This site is intended for all those who love the joy and aroma of authentic Indian/andhra vegetarian cuisine. If you are one of those, who at some point crave for these classic dishes and festive treats and are looking for Quick and easy, simple to make recipes - Read on:-)
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As with Indian cuisine in general, the key to tantalizing colors and flavors of Andhra cuisine is the blends of a variety of spices. There is a perception that Andhra food is the hottest in the world, perhaps the idea of people who have tasted its most compelling pickles – like avakaya, gorgura and the like. Based on what spices are used, in what proportions and with what combinations it includes countless cool' calming and comforting dishes to chill out. Needless to say to those who hail from the Andhra and mostly south of India, every Andhra kitchen has a Spice box with a set of spices. For those who are unaware the secret list includes- cumin seeds, mustard seeds, whole dried red pepper, fenugreek seeds, cilantro seeds, black peppercorn, cloves and turmeric. If you are new to Andhra cooking and are planning to prepare a meal with that authentic Andhra aroma, have these handy and you almost achieved it. This is a blend of spices that are antidotes to many ailments and greatly used not only as home remedies but proven effective in ayurvedic (herbal) medicine.

Andhra cuisine inherently incorporates whole grains in a range of dishes. Being a vegetarian, when I see the gaining popularity of health and nutritional benefits and importance of whole grain consumption, I rest assured not to boast off, that we not only use whole grains in our staple foods and native cuisine, but also a variety of them. Use of minumulu (minapapppu/urad daal) in idli and dosa, Pesalu (Moong daal) in pesarattu are a couple of excellent examples of the numerous.

As a mom I am always in pursuit of healthy nutritious food for my kids. Being a scientist by profession, I cannot resist my curiosity and temptation to investigate and nail the best and tend to do the same in domestic affairs as well. But despite the explorations, I still believe that our native Andhra cuisine provides all the nutritional requirements my kids need. Being exposed to all the tummy yummies the world over, my kids like a variety of foods, yet they never get bored of wonderful tastes of “Andhra Vantakamulu”.
Welcome to my collection of traditional Andhra foods and some of my explorations and successful adventures of recipes from other cuisines with an Andhra touch.

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All the pictures, content, and images are sole property of http://www.raje-s.blogspot.com, except where noted. Permission is required to copy, download or use any text, photographs or image files. Please contact rajeskitchen@gmail.com for inquiries.

Vankaya masala

(Brinjal/Eggplant in gravy)

Ingredients:
2 pounds small round brinjal –make 4 slits in each as in the picture
1 small onion cut
half cup fresh or dry coconut
half cup peanuts

2 dried red pepper
3 tbsp dhania seeds
2 tbs chana daal
2-3 fresh green peppers sliced
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp garam masala
2 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
2 bay leaves
4 tsp oil for seasoning
Salt to taste

Method:
Roast peanuts, chana daal and dhania seeds and red pepper. Grind these with the coconut and onion with enough water to a paste and keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, turmeric, ginger garlic paste bay leaves and garam masala, add green peppers, and brinjal and cook with the lid closed until the brinjal are soft and completely cooked. Add the ground paste and desired amount of salt and cook for few more min. until blended well and masala is absorbed into brinjal.
Serve hot with chapathi, Pulao, or fried rice.