Beaten/Flattened Rice or Poha Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Serving: 2- 3 persons

 Ingredients

1. Beaten rice: 2 cups, can be easily found at any Indian store
2. 1 small red onion: chopped
3. Ginger: a small slice, grated
4. 1 small Capsicum: diced
5. 1 carrot: diced
6. Green peas
7. Green beans
8. Curry leaves: can be found in Indian store, optional
9. 1 small potato: cut in small cubes
10. 1 lemon
11. Roasted Peanuts
12. Roasted Cashew nuts
13. Raisin
14. Green Chili: optional

Spices

1. Turmeric
2. Mustard seeds
3. Salt
4. Asafetida: optional

Recipe

1. Fry the cubed potatoes in a flat pan and keep it aside.
2. In the same pan, add ½ tea spoon mustard seeds, let it crackle, add a pinch of a Asafetida and 3-4 curry leaves
3. Add onions, ginger and sauté it for a minute
4. Now add rest of the vegetables
5. Add salt as per taste and ½ tea spoon turmeric
6. Let the vegetables cook for 2-3 minutes until the raw taste is gone.
7. Now add the lightly water rinsed beaten rice, fried potatoes, roasted peanuts, roasted cashews, raisins and squeeze a lemon and give it a good mix and cover it with the lid for 2 minutes and lastly garnish it with chopped cilantro.

Indian Masala/spicy tea

Cook time: 10 minutes

Serving: 2 persons

1. A small piece of ginger, slightly crushed
2. A pinch of Indian Fennel seeds, optional
3. Green cardamom 3-4 pods
4. Cloves: 3-4
5. A small stick of cinnamon
6. Sugar optional

Recipe:

1. Boil 1.5 cups of water
2. Add crushed ginger, crushed cloves and green cardamom, fennel seeds
3. Let it boil for 4-5 minutes and then add loose black tea or 2 black tea bags and let it brew for a while until you get a nice black color and nice smell of spices i.e. ginger, cardamom…
4. Now, add a cup of milk
5. Add sugar as per your taste, totally optional.
6. Give it a boil or two.
7. Serve it Hot.

 

Recipe for: Garlic Flavored Shiitake and Snap Pea Sauté

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Serving: 2- 3 persons

 Ingredients  

1. Sweet Almond Oil (you can use any oil/butter as per your choice)
2. Dry Shiitake Mushroom (8-10 pieces; soak in water for 30 min before starting the cooking)
3. Sugar Snap Peas (15-20 pieces)
4. Sweet Peppers (red, orange, yellow, a total of 10 pieces, cut as per your preference)
5. Garlic (4-5 cloves, cut in thin slices)
6. Garlic Salt (as per your taste)
7. Roasted Sesame Seeds (15-20 gm, used for seasoning)
8. 1 Habanero or any Chili (Optional, can cut in small pieces)

 Recipe

1. Heat the almond oil in a pan.
2. Add water-soaked shiitake mushrooms in the hot oil and sauté for 5-7 min.
3. Next, add sugar snap peas and sauté for another 2 min.
4. Then, add sweet peppers and sauté for 8-10 min.
5. Then, add garlic salt, habanero chili and mix well.
6. Finally, sprinkle the roasted sesame seeds.
7. Ready to serve.

Serving   

Serve this with hot steamed Jasmine rice. It goes well with probiotic condiment and drink such as kimchi and kombucha, respectively.

 

 

Bird Watching

This Corona lock down has brought many people closer to the nature and I was no exception. This spring seems extraordinary,I don’t know I have time to see and reflect or reconsider our priorities. New birds I learned in my journey so far:

1. Gold finch

2. Blue Jay

3. Black bird

4. Warbler

5. Vireo

6. Kingfisher 

7. Mourning dove

We humans are not only bias towards other humans rather we have equal bias for birds as well.When I first learned about Mourning doves, I didn't feel good to sight them. But later learned that they have such name because their call is very haunting and does not make a good listen. Rather, in Christianity, doves are considered the form of good angels.