Ingredients:

3 ¼ c. water
1/4 c. moong dhal
3/4 c. rice
1 tsp. salt
1 stick butter
1 tsp. black pepper (whole ones)
20 cashew nuts
1 tsp. cumin seeds
Ginger
Asafetida

Directions:

Add 3 cups of water with moong dahl, rice and salt and cook it on the stove over medium heat. When the mixture becomes soft and all the water is gone, take it out of the stove. If you cook it in a pressure cooker it will be cooked in 5 minutes. Over medium heat, melt the butter in a frying pan. Add the pepper to it and sauté. Add the cashew nuts. As soon as pepper burst out and cashews turn golden brown, remove the pan from the stove and pour the mixture into the cooked rice and moong dhal.

Yellow Rice

Ingredients

2 cups basmati rice
1 can coconut milk
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp turmeric
Cashews
Raisins
Cinnamon stick
2 tsp Ginger and garlic paste
½ onion
4 pieces cardamom
4 cloves
2 tbsp ghee

Directions:

Wash rice well and drain. Heat ghee, roast raisins and cashews. Remove from ghee. Add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, onions, garlic/ginger paste. Fry to lite brown color. Add rice, turmeric, salt and continue to fry. Add 3 cups coconut milk, 1 cup water (rice cup measurement). Bring to a boil, simmer 20 minutes. Garnish with nuts, raisins, cilantro, fried onions, pistachios or even boiled eggs

Tomato Rice

Ingredients:

Fennel
1 Cinnamon stick
3 cloves
2 cardamom
1 onion
2 green chilies
Ginger/garlic paste
4 roam tomatoes
Turmeric
½ red chili powder
Salt
2 cups rice
4 cups water

Directions:

In a pan, add fennel, cinnamon stick (patta), cloves and cardamom and fry. Add onions and green chilies, ginger/garlic paste, tomatoes, turmeric, and red chili powder and salt. Add ½ cup of water and bring to boil. In the rice cooker, add washed 2 cups of rice and 4 cups of water. Add the tomato gravy. Tip: adjust the salt at this stage or it will be very difficult to salt the cooked rice.

Yogurt Rice

Yogurt Rice I

Ingredients:

Green Chilies
Diced Ginger
Urad Dahl
Mustard seeds
Asafetida

Directions:

In oil, fry green chilies, diced ginger, urad dahl, mustard seeds and asafetida

Yogurt Rice II

Ingredients:

1 c. rice
2 ½ c. water
1 c. yogurt
1 c. sour cream
Salt to taste
½ tsp. mustard seeds
½ tsp. urad dahl
10 sliced pieces cucumber
10 sliced pieces tomato
1 Tbsp. oil
10 curry leaves
1 hot green pepper (cut into 2 or 3 pieces)
1/8 tsp. asafetida
1 red pepper (broken into 2 or 3 pieces)
¼ by ¼ inch fresh ginger
1 tsp. coriander leaves, chopped

Directions:

Cook 1 cup of rice with 2 ½ cups of water. Mix the rice with yogurt, sour cream and salt well. If you make yogurt rice in the morning to eat in the evening, you may use 1 cup of warm milk in the place of sour cream. In a fry pan, sauté mustard seeds and urad dahl in oil. When mustard seeds pop, add curry leaves, asafetida, chopped green and red pepper, ginger and coriander leaves. When the whole mixture turns into golden color remove from heat and pour it into the yogurt mixed rice. Mix well and garnish it with tomato and cucumber pieces.

Sakara Pongal

Ingredients:

½ Cup rice
¼ moong Dahl
Vellam
Ghee
Oil
Cashews
Raisins
Pinch of Cardamom powder

Directions

Soak rice and moong dahl. Add 1 ½ cups water to rice/dahl and cook in pressure cooker for 3 whistles. In a pan, add vellam and water and boil, then strain. Add to rice/dahl mixture. Add ghee and oil, cashews, raisins, cardamom powder

Note: If you don’t have vellam, use 1 ½ cup long grain rice with 3 ½ cups water and 2 ¼ cup dark brown sugar

Lemon Rice

Ingredients:

3 cups of rice
4 ¼ cups of water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp oil
½ tsp turmeric
2 ½ Tbps lemon juice
½ chopped medium onion
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin
Pinch of asafetida
3 green chilies
Curry leaves
2 Tbsp oil

Directions:

Cook rice in a rice cooker. After cooking, add 1 tsp of oil, turmeric and lemon juice. Cover and keep.

In a pan, add 2 Tbsp of oil, mustard seeds, cumin, onion, asafetida, green chilies, curry leaves at the end.

Make a hole in the rice, add the fried spices in the bottom and cover with rice. When serving, mix spices and add roasted peanuts as garnish

Vegetable Rice

Ingredients:

2 heaps of cumin seeds
3 cloves
Mixed vegetables
¼ tsp clove powder
Onion
Tomato
Sugar
1 Cup water
3 tsp. Madras curry powder

Directions:

In oil, add 2 heaps of cumin seeds, 3 cloves, ¼ tsp clove powder and onion. Fry the onion and then add a pinch of sugar. Add tomato and fry. Add partially cooked mixed vegetables. Add 3 tsp madras curry power, 1 cup water to make a paste. Cook for 1 minute. Add cooked rice.

Coconut Rice

Coconut Rice I

Ingredients:

Red Chilies
Asafetida
Chana Dahl
Urad Dahl
Cashews
Mustard seeds
Rice
Shredded Coconut

Directions:

Cook rice in the rice cooker. Toast shredded coconut in ghee. Add curry leaves and salt. In oil, fry red chilies, asafetida, chana dahl, urad dahl, cashews and mustard seeds

Coconut Rice (II)

Ingredients:

1 cup rice
2 Tbsp. melted butter
½ tsp. mustard seeds
2 tsp. urad dahl
2 tsp. chana dahl
½ tsp. cumin seeds
10 to 12 cashew nuts
3 to 4 whole green chilies or red peppers (cut into pieces
½ fresh coconut, shredded
2 tsp. salt

Directions:

Cook rice separately and let it cool for a while. In a sauce-pan, add melted butter or ghee and mustard seeds and fry in low heat until the seeds start popping. Then add urad dahl, chana dahl, cumin seed, cashew nuts, chili or pepper and fry until the dhal are light brown. Add coconut shreds and fry on low heat until the coconut is slightly brown. Always stir constantly while frying. Add salt and rice and mix well.

Brinji Rice

Ingredients:

Ghee
Cinnamon Stick
Cardamom
1 Tsp Fennel Seeds
3 to 4 Cloves
Onions, thickly sliced
2 Green Chilies
2 -3 garlic pods
Ginger
Mint (optional)
1 ½ Rice
3 cups Coconut Milk
2-3 Bay Leaves
Salt

Directions:

In a pan, add oil and ghee, cinnamon stick, cardamom, fennel, cloves and bay leaves. Then add onions, green chilies, garlic, ginger and mint. Then add Rice and fry. Next add coconut milk and salt to taste (should be lightly salty since the cooked rice will soak up the salt) Place in a rice cooker.