Janhi Chingudi (Ridge Gourd with Shrimp)

Ingredients

Ridge Gourd - 4

Shrimp - 15 Large (remove vein and shell)

Potato - 1 Large

Ground Onion-Ginger-Garlic Paste - 4 tbsp

Curry Powder - 4 tbsp

Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp

Canola Oil - 3 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp or as per taste

Cumin seeds - 1/8 tsp

Dry Red Chilli - 2

Method

Let the Shrimp thaw and be soft to touch.

Heat Canola oil. 

Once the oil is hot, add the Shrimp. Sprinkle Turmeric Powder and Salt and mix well. Stir every min or so till the Shrimp is cooked. Do not overcook.

Keep the Shrimp aside. In the oil remaining in the pan, add the chopped Potato. I chopped the Potato length-wise so it is similar in shape to the chopped Ridge Gourd.

Once the Potato is cooked, keep it aside with the Shrimp.

In the oil that remains, add Cumin seeds and dry Red Chilli.

Once this oil is tempered with Cumin seeds and dry Red Chilli, add a pinch of sugar and caramelize the same.

Add the Ground Onion-Ginger-Garlic Paste and mix well.

Once the paste is half-cooked, add the chopped Ridge Gourd

Note: Chop the Ridge Gourd into two or three pieces, so that it is easier to chop individually. Remove the skin and then chop into small cubes,

Cover if necessary.

Once the Ridge Gourd looks cooked, add the already cooked Shrimp and Potato pieces.

Mix well. Cover if necessary. Add a dash of water to prevent the dish from sticking to the sides of the pan.

Enjoy with Rice\Dal or Roti\Chapatti.

I was a never a fan of this vegetable, right from my childhood days. During my parents recent visit, my mom prepared this dish. I loved it but that was it. It's been a few months since and I thought of grabbing a few Ridge Gourd during my recent grocery shopping. Was I surprised how delicious this dish turned out to be!?! Think it's gonna be a staple.

The garlic-based Spinach dish in this pic is also a recent favorite of mine. I am adding a lot of new vegetables to my pantry this holiday season - can't be more proud of myself! The cooking experience when relaxed is a different experience - it is not a chore.

More about Ridge Gourd and it's health benefits (blood purifier, manages insulin levels, etc. among others) can be found here. More details about the vegetable can be found here (the image is from the same website).

Ridge gourd medically referred to as Luffa acutangula as well as called turiya or even turai or beerakai or dodka in several languages in India is yet another variety of gourd along with a functional veggie that provides a facet to the veggie delicacies. This can be referred to as Chinese Okra or even Sponge gourd.

Stir fried Bok Choy with Peanut Vignaigrette

Ingredients

Bok Choy - 1 pack (about 8)

Peanuts - 1/2 cup

Canola oil - 2 tbsp

Peanut Vignaigrette- a dash or 3-4 tbsp (as per taste)

Salt - 1/4 tsp or as per taste

Pepper - as per taste

Method

Chop the base of the Bok Choy

Cut it into halves or quarters length-wise

Clean it using running water - there may be dirt trapped in the base.

Heat Canola oil in a pan.

Add Peanuts to lightly roast them. Keep close watch in order to not burn them.

When the Peanuts are roasted, add the chopped and cleaned Bok Choys.

Add Salt and Pepper. Mix it well.

You can serve it at this point.

Alternatively, add the Peanut Vignaigrette and let it cook for another 5 mins.

Serve hot. 

Another alternative is to use chopped garlic instead of Peanuts - this will give two slightly different dishes than the above. Refer "Bok Choy Recipe by Steamy Kitchen" that shows how to clean Bok Choy and the Garlic-based recipe.

I am a Bok Choy fan now, as you can see! :) Happy holidays, everyone!

Guguni - Yellow Peas (street food of Odisha)

This is one of the dishes unique to Odisha - a popular street food apart from being akin to Cholley of Punjabi household in a Odiya household. It is the only use of Yellow Peas in my house - if you have any other recipe that uses the same, please do share.

Ingredients

Yellow Peas (dry) - 1 cup, soak overnight

Ginger - 1 inch

Cinnamon - 1 stick

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp

Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Dry Red Chilli - 2-3

Dry Bay Leaves - 3-4

Boiled Potatoe - 2-3, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes

Water - to pressure cook the Yellow Peas and for the gravy

Canola Oil - 1 tbsp

Tomato-Ginger-Garlic-Onion Paste - 10 tbsp (Grind 2 medium Onions, 1 inch Ginger, 2 Tomatoes, 7-8 Garlic Pods)

Onion - Raw, chopped to garnish

Cilantro - Fresh, chopped to garnish

Rock Salt - to garnish, as per taste, optional

Method

Soak Yellow Peas (dry) overnight in water.

Pressure cook the soaked Yellow Peas and chopped Potatoes (1/2 inch cubes or smaller) with Salt, Turmeric, Cinnamon stick and Chilli Powder(optional, as per taste) - I usually cook it for 3-4 whistles. Let it sit till the cooker cover opens by itself.

In a flat pan, hear Canola oil. 

Add dry Cumin seed, dry Bay Leaf and dry Red Chilli and let it sizzle and temper the oil.

Add the ground Tomato-Ginger-Garlic-Onion Paste. Stir often and let it cook.

When the oil separates, add the boiled Yellow Peas and Potatoes (without the water).

Let it cook for 5-10 mins and then add water as per the desired consistency.

Serve hot. Garnish with raw chopped Onion, chopped fresh Cilantro and powder Rock Salt - optional, as per taste!

Khichdi with Split Moong Dal

I first had this at my friend Prajakta's place. This morning, when I was thinking of having something hot to get some relief for my sore throat, this is the only dish that was coming to mind. Also, a one pot meal wonder to ease Sunday cooking - so off I went experimenting! 😊

Thank you, Prajakta, for this wonderful soul-food recipe.

Ingredients

Basmati rice - 1 cup

Split Green Moong Dal - 1 cup

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Asafetida - 4-5 pinches (Or dashes from a bottle with small hole)

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp, or as per taste

Dry Red Chilli - 3

Sugar - a pinch

Water - 8 cups

Method

1. Heat Ghee in Pressure Cooker

2. Add Cumin Seed and Asafetida

3. Add Dry Red Chilli, Turmeric and Salt

4. Add Sugar

5. Add the soaked and cleaned Rice and Dal mix (I soaked it in hot water for 5 mins and rinsed clean). Stir it till the grains are apart and do not stick to the side of the vessel.

6. Add water. Mix well and bring it to a boil in High heat.

7. Reduce heat to Medium-High. Cover the cooker and let it simmer for approximately 7 mins till the whistle goes off.

8. After the first whistle, reduce heat to Medium and let it cook for another 6 mins.

9. Stop the heat. Let the cover open by itself after a few mins.

10. Serve hot with Papad or Mango Pickle.

Sabudana Upma - Pearls of Tapioca!

Every ingredient needs to be processed and cooked in it's own appropriate method. Tapioca pearls aka Sabudana is one such delicate ingredient. You have to handle it one particular way - else you end up with the gooey mushy bubblegum-texture dish - which is definitely not appetizing at all! :)

With a few disasters behind me - or as few of us would proudly pronounce that as experience - this time round, I was determined to get this right. The first time I had it as hubby's friend Jyoti's place. She had made it as an appetizer and it was delicious. She had mentioned about the overnight soaking to get the right texture - but I had totally forgotten the bit about putting just enough water till the surface of the Sabudana in the container. Anything more or less will make it go "crazy" - too mushy or the other extreme of under-cooked! :) 

Ingredients

Sabudana - 1 cup, soak overnight. Put it in a container and soak it overnight with water such that the water just covers it, not more, not less. Leave it covered.

Canola Oil - 1 tbsp
- Begin of Seasoning
Curry Leaves - 7-8, fresh
Dry Red Chillies - 3
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Chana Dal - 2 tbsp
Urad Dal - 1 tbsp
Asafoetida - 3-4 pinches
- End of Seasoning
Peanuts - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1 Medium
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp, or as per taste

Method

Soak Sabudana overnight.
Heat Canola Oil.
As the Oil warms up, add the Seasoning ingredients and let it flavor the Oil.
Add the Peanuts and let them roast and turn golden brown.
Add the chopped Onions and let it cook till transparent and the raw smell is gone.
Add the soaked Sabudana and cook till the pearls are transparent. Takes about 5-10 mins. They should not turn back to white again - if they do, then they have been overcooked. Keep stirring them to prevent them from sticking to each other and turning into a gooey mess. :)
Turn off the heat, cover it and let it sit for 10 mins.
Add the Lemon juice and mix well (optional). Some garnish it with chopped Coriander (optional).

Serve hot with Garlic Pickle, Roasted Papad, or just as-is.

Mudi (Puffed Rice) Mixture

We Baripadias (my paternal grandparents place is in Baripada of Mayurbhanj district of Odisha) love our Mudi (aka Puffed Rice). If you have been following this blog, you would seen a few other posts where I mention this.

I can have Mudi with almost every curry. I am not kidding when I say that my mom literally blackmailed me as a kid with it to make sure I eat my veggies.

One favorite breakfast item is mixing Mudi with milk (cream adds richness) and eating it with Potato fries (not French fries) or some other dry curry like Aloo Dum/Brinjal fries/Saag/what not.

Marriage celebration is not complete without one meal of Mudi with fresh-caught Fish fries. And another meal of Mudi and Mutton curry. Yes, we are a non-veg centric cuisine. If the host does not provide this, they are judged severely irrespective of whether they did everything else right and treated the guests royally!!;)

One common snack item is Mudi Mixture. It is nothing but mixing an Indian spicy mixture (store-bought) with Puffed Rice. You can add chopped Onion, Green Chillies, Lemon Juice and Coriander leaves - everything is optional. It is pretty close to the Bhel Puri sans the chutneys.

Modak

Modak prepared by my lovely friend aka sister aka partner-in-crime Vrinda for Ganesh Chaturthi!

Recipe link : http://www.aayisrecipes.com/sweets/modak/

Bon Appetite!

Kala Chana Pulao

A Rice preparation that is wholesome, delicious and also an one-pot wonder - what is not to like in it? :) Found the recipe here - Thank you, Ujwal!

Ingredients

1 cup Rice - soaked for 1 hour
2 tbsp Canola Oil
3/4 tsp Jeera (Cumin Seeds)
1 Onion sliced, medium in size
1/2 tsp Ginger Paste - 1/2 tsp Garlic Paste (I used 1 tsp Ginger garlic paste)
1/2 -1 tsp Garam Masala Powder
1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp Vegetable Curry Powder
Salt (to taste)
2 tsp Lemon juice
Coriander leaves (A few with stalk)

Soak together overnight
1/2 cup Kala (black) Channa
1  Cinnamon
2-3 Cloves
2 cups Water




Method

1. Soak Channa overnight with all the ingredients given under "Soak together overnight" and pressure cook for one whistle, Keep on low flame for 20 mins thereafter. Reserve the stock.
2. Strain Channa. Measure stock and add enough water to make it upto 2 cups (double the volume of the rice).
3. Heat Canola Oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add Jeera. When it turns golden, add the sliced Onion and stir fry till the raw smell is gone.
4. Add Ginger Garlic paste and fry for a min. 
5. Add in cooked Kala Channa, Lemon juice, salt, Garam Masala, Vegetable Curry Powder, Red Chilli powder. Fry for 2 minutes. Add Rice. Mix. Add coriander leaves.
6. Add the measured stock and water mixture. Boil.
7. Cover with a well fitting lid. cook on low flame until almost done.
8. Fluff with fork to let the steam escape so that rice grains do not stick to each other. If needed, cover it for a few mins to continue cooking the Rice in it's steam.
9. Garnish with a sprig of Coriander leaf or Mint leaf.

Serve hot with cool Raita!

Bingsu .. no cousin of Bingo!

Tried this dessert this past weekend and how I regretted not having tasted it so far. Sometime back, I had carried it out and of course, it was a disaster. Never ever carry it out - even if you do, have it soon after.

Bingsu is a Korean dessert consisting of shaved ice, condensed milk, chopped fruits and red bean paste. The wikipedia page for the same is here. I had this at Shilla's Patisserie at Centerville, VA. It is served in large portion - two or three people can easily share it depending on appetite. Do check it out! As well as the Mango Souffle Cake pic below - so light, creamy and delicious.

While we are on Korean food, sharing a pic of the Vegetable Pancake and Mushroom Tofu Soup from Lighthouse Tofu next door. I can have this seven days a week - that should tell you how much I like it!! Enjoy!!

Fragrant Lemon Rice

It is surprising that we eat Rice often and yet I had not made Lemon Rice ever! From childhood memories, there was one Holi (the color festival of India to welcome Spring season) when my mom had prepared Lemon Rice. After the exciting morning playing colors with friends and family, the Lemon Rice was distinctly fragrant and flavorful. It is one of those meals that leaves a distinct mark in your memory.

When having friends over for a simple dinner this past weekend, I decided to try my hand at making the Lemon Rice. So scoured the websites and VahReVah! video tutorial on the same. Finally decided to use the recipe posted here at "Chef In Making - Recipes with a twist" and slightly modify it. Thank you, soniaabrol, for the recipe.

To prepare for approx. 20 people, use the following measure of ingredients when you have a few appetizers and other side-dishes to accompany. For more or less people and more or less menu items, change the rice amount accordingly.

Ingredients

Rice - 4 cups (raw)
Canola Oil - 2 tbsp
Asafoetida (Hing) powder - 1/8 tsp or 6-7 pinches
Mustard Seeds - 1 tbsp
Dry Red Chillies - 6-7 (or depending on taste)
Curry Leaves - a bunch, approx 15-20 leaves
Peanuts - 1 cup (more or less on preference)
Cashews - 1/2 cup (optional)
Chana Dal - 1/2 cup
Urad Dal - 1/4 cup
Turmeric Powder - 1/8 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp (or depending on taste)
Sugar - a pinch
Lemon Juice - 2 tbsp (or depending on taste)
Coriander Leaves - to garnish (optional)

Method

1. Soak and clean the Rice. Keep it soaked for 10 mins or so.
2. Boil a large pot of water. I cook Rice in open pot instead of Rice cooker. So the Rice should be nicely submerged in water and boiling. I let the Rice boil and continue cooking for approximately 10-15 mins. The Rice should be cooked so that it retains it's shape and is not mushy. Strain the remaining water from the Rice.
3. Spread out and cool the Rice under a fan so that it does not continue cooking in the steam. Stir it every now and then so it uniformly cools down. I use a flat large plate or container for this part to increase the surface area of cooling.
4. Take a large pot. Add Canola Oil.
5. Add Asafoetida (hing) powder and let it sizzle a bit and flavor the Oil. 
6. After a couple of seconds, add Mustard seeds. Let the seeds splutter.
7. Add dry Red Chilies, Curry leaves and raw Peanuts.
8. When the Peanuts are almost roasted, add the Cashews if you are adding. Cashews get browned faster, so keep a close watch once you add them.
9. Add Chana dal and Urad dal. Let them cook until they are nicely brown and fragrant. Keep a close watch here as well as they brown quickly. You want them roasted and have a light golden brown color on them.
10. Add Turmeric Powder, Salt, Lemon Juice and Sugar. Mix well. I don't like the Rice too sour, so I add less Lemon Juice - depending on your taste, you will want to add more or less of the same.
11. Stir in the cold rice and fold it into the spice mix. The rice will turn a beautiful light yellow in color.
12. You can garnish with fresh chopped Coriander leaves. I skipped this part coz the Rice was flavorful as-is and did not want the dominant smell of Coriander leaves to take over the same.

Enjoy with Cucumber Raita. It can be made with left-over Rice as a quick breakfast as well. This can be a one-dish meal as well.

Achari Vegetable Curry

Ingredients

Shan Achari Masala - 1 pack (Shan Achari Gosht also works, but it is less spicy)
Cauliflower (aka Gobi) - 1, chopped into florets
Mushroom - 1 large pack, remove the stem of the mushroom and chop into 3-4 pieces each
String Beans - 1 bunch, chopped into 2 inch pieces
Dry Green Chana - 1 cup, soak overnight and pressure cook with an inch of chopped ginger and Salt for approx. 2 whistles
Potatoes - 2-3 medium, chopped to match the cauliflower florets size
Paneer - a few pieces, as per taste
Canola Oil - 2 tbsps
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Dry Bay Leaf - 3-4
Dry Red Chilli - 2-3 (optional)
Salt - 1 tbsp (or as per taste)
Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Tomato - 2 medium, chopped into small pieces
Onion\Ginger\Garlic paste - 12 tbsp (grind 1 large Onion, 1/2 inch Ginger, 7-8 Garlic cloves, 2 Green Chillies is optional)

Method

Grind Onion-Ginger-Garlic-Green Chillies together
Heat Canola Oil.
Season the oil with Cumin Seeds, Dry Bay Leaf and Dry Red Chillies.
As the spices start browning, add the Onion-Ginger-Garlic-Green Chillies paste. If there is any of the paste remaining, freeze it to use later. I keep it in refrigerator if I intend to use it within the next day or two in a tightly sealed container.
Mix the paste with the seasoned Oil and stir till the paste is cooked and the Oil separates. Takes about 5-10 mins.
In the meanwhile, heat another pan and start frying the veggies one-by-one. I do one veggie at a time since that will make sure the veggies are uniformly cooked. If you don't have one or more of these veggies, don't worry - it is perfectly okay to skip them. Different combination of veggie stuff will give it a slightly different taste - not that much of a difference though! I leave them half-cooked so that when mixed with the Onion-Ginger-Garlic-Green Chillies, they can cook together completely.
As the Onion-Ginger-Garlic-Green Chillies paste is cooked, add the Shan Achari Masala. Mix together and stir for 2-3 mins.
Add the fried veggies and mix well.
Cover and cook for a few mins, particularly if the veggies are half-cooked.
Serve this hot with Rice\Chapatti.

Achari Vegetable Curry with Peurto Rican Beans in the background

Lotus Root Crisps

Ingredients

Lotus Roots - fresh or frozen defrosted 2 cups

Shan Tandoori Masala - 2 tbsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp, or as per taste

Rice Flour - 3 tbsp, for crunchiness

Method

Cut the Lotus roots into pieces as shown in pic. If frozen, they come pre-cut; make sure to defrost.

Mix with the rest of the ingredients

Deep fry in hot oil.

Serve hot with Rice/Dal or eat as-is.

Posto Bara (Poppy Seeds fritter)

In most Odiya households, there are certain days of the week that are followed as vegetarian days (Mondays and Thursdays are the most commonly followed ones). I am not sure but this may be an entirely unique trait of the Odiya culture. That is in comparison to most other cultures where people are either vegetarian or not. So in those vegetarian days, my mom had to be really innovative to keep us happily fed (us being me and Baba - my dad). Posto Bara was a favorite for those days. It is one of those dishes which is made widely in Odiya and Bengali households.

My dad is from Mayurbhanj and they use poppy seed a lot in their cuisine. Patua also known as Patrapoda is a delicious flavorful poppy seed and mustard seed paste-based dish with tiny fishes cooked in leaf-wrap in the clay oven. My mom can make it in a regular pot as well. I have tried but can never get the same flavors. It is an intricate and careful preparation. My Didi (my paternal grandmom) also used to make it really well. Some food memories for sure...

Posto Bara is something I have been planning to make since ages. However, my last few attempts at making anything using poppy seed has been a disaster - too much mustard leading to bitter taste, coarse paste texture due to incompetent blender, etc, etc. So finally I turned around and got enthu to take another stab at it. Voila - it was a success. We loved it! Friends visiting us loved it! Got another friend who was missing her mom's food to try it - She also loved it! :)

My childhood friend Sonali's preparation - One of the best cooks, for sure! :)

This is so easy to make - I am pretty sure I will make it more often now.

Ingredients (makes about 60 small fritters)

Poppy Seeds - 2 cups
Maida - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1 medium, chopped finely
Potato - 1 large, chopped finely
Green Chilli - 3-4, chopped finely (optional)
Garlic or Onion-Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
Cumin-Chilli Powder - 1 tbsp
Salt - as per taste
Canola oil for shallow frying

Method

Soak the Poppy Seeds overnight. I add warm water to begin with.
Take 1/2 tsp Canola oil and fry the finely chopped potatoes to cook it. It can be added as-is to the batter but I did not want to take the chance of it remaining raw.
Grind the Poppy Seeds to a fine batter - not too watery. As you take the batter in your hand, you should be able to mould it to the shape you want.
Add all the ingredients with the Poppy Seed batter and mix well.
Heat oil for shallow frying. Add the prepared batter to the hot oil as shown in pic below.
Cook one side. As it turns crispy and browns, it will easily move. Turn it upside down so that the other side can cook.
Place them in paper towel to pull away the extra oil.
Place them in a wax paper lined container.
Serve hot. Goes well with Rice-Dal as well as an appetizer.

Let me know if you get to try it. Have a great day!

Cherry Tomato Salad

Ingredients

Cherry Tomatos (prefer package of different colors) - 1 Medium pack (Costco package)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 3-4 tbsp (approx.)
Balsamic Vinegar - 2 tbsp (approx.)
Chives - 3stems, chopped into tiny pieces
Black Pepper - 1 tsp
Sugar - a pinch

Method

Chop the Tomatoes in half.
Mix the rest of the ingredients together.
Stir the chopped Tomatoes in the dressing. Keep aside.

This goes well with barbecue meat as a side. Have a great summer!

This was inspired from the recipe here.

Fruit Salad

Just chop into cubes the fruits - I used Papaya and Banana.

Toss the above with few tbsps of Granola, some White Chocolate Chips and a dash of Maple Syrup. 

If you are indulging, some Caramel with hot Chocolate Sauce would be great to add! :)

Kale Indian Style

A new veggie in my shopping list - Kale! It appears every other item in the grocery store has Kale in it - soup, salad, pasta and what not! Being skeptical of how it will be in taste and texture has been the main reason we ignored it so long. For the first dish, wanted to make something that was closer to our Indian food taste so that we don't run miles away from it forever. :)

Googled and found this interesting dish quite similar to the traditional Odiya Saaga "Greens" dish. The recipe was taken from here.

Ingredients (2-4 servings, depending on portion size)

3 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter) or unsalted butter

1 large shallot, thinly sliced into rings

2 bunches curly or Tuscan kale, ribs and stems removed, leaves torn into 2” pieces

2 tablespoons prepared lime pickle, chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

• Heat ghee in a large skillet over medium-high heat. 
• Add shallot (I replaced with red onion!) and cook, stirring often, until beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. 
• Working in batches, add kale, tossing and letting it cook down slightly before adding another handful or two, and adding a splash of water if pan looks dry. 
• Add lime pickle and cook, tossing often, until kale is wilted and tender, 5–8 minutes. I added some Chatak Chilli Pickle for added heat.
• Season with salt and pepper.

 

Jungfrau, Switzerland and Traveller's Khichdi!

Note - This post was in draft for more than 2 years now! :)

Day 3

We stayed over in Interlaken to take the morning train to Jungfrau. We went via Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg. This ride is also scenic - picture postcard like!

Lauterbrunnen valley - oh so scenic!

Near Wengen - looks like a painting, is n't it?

Kleine Scheidegg - where we change trains to catch the luxury special train to Jungfrau!

Jungfrau view

Jungfrau view - the tour ends there where you can see the tiny people below..we did not realize that we will also reach there! :)

View from Jungfrau

Jungrau range

View from where the tiny people in the picture above were being seen.

As we walks towards the ice sculpture exhibition

Ice Sculptures...just wow!

Up in Jungfrau we found this Indian restaurant - Bollywood

Indian restaurant in Jungfrau...

Chicken Curry, Rice and Papadum in Jungfrau Restaurant

Chocolates in Jungfrau Restaurant

View on our return ride to Kleine Scheidegg - a surprisingly beautiful ride comes to an end!

My desire to see a film shoot in Switzerland came true! What if it is not a Bollywood movie, it was an Asian movie. If anyone knows which movie this is, please share.

Pretty, ain't it? I can almost imagine a Bollywood song being shot here with the heroine is a soft-colored Chiffon saree serenading the heroe! :)))

Ingredients

Rice - 1.5 cups
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - few pinches

Mix them all together in a zip-loc bag and seal it.
If you can, I recommend to carry a small bottle of hot pickle to serve as a side-item with this Khichdi.Or Papads can be roasted on the stove!

In your destination, remember to add the following to your grocery list as well as some pickle if you did not carry it.

Canned\Frozen Vegetables - 1 to 2 cups
Butter - 2-3 tbsp(You can use Canola Oil if you have that available - when traveling, I usually buy Butter only since we need that for breakfast - serves double purpose.)

Method

Heat a pan and add Butter.
As it melts, add the veggies and cook them in Medium heat.

When the veggie is cooked, add the Rice-mix and mix well. Cook the Rice and Veggie mix like this for another 5-10 mins till the Rice looks translucent.

Add about 4 cups of water and let it boil in High heat.
After the water boils, reduce the heat to Medium and cover the dish. It should be done in the next 5-10 mins. Serve hot with Pickle\Papad. Add a dash of butter on top if you like.