Star Fruit or Carambola Rice

Ingredients

Rice: ½ kg
Raw star fruits or Carambola: 4
Grated coconut: 1 cup
Oil: 5-6 tsp
Mustard: 3-4 tsp
Bengal gram: 2 tsp
Urad dal: 2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds: 2 tsp
Ground nut: 5-6 tsp
Red chillies: 10-12
Curry leaves: 4-5 springs
Turmeric: ½ tsp
Coriander leaves: 2-3 tsp
Asafoetida: A pinch

Salt: To taste

Method
Cook the rice and allow it to cool by spreading it out on a plate. Once it has cooled, add salt and two tablespoons of oil to the rice. Finely chop the star fruits and grind it with coconut, two tablespoons of mustard and 10 red chillies and keep the paste aside. Heat the remaining oil and add mustard, urad dal, groundnut, asafoetida, curry leaves and two red chillies. Add turmeric and sauté well. Add the grinded star fruit paste and stir fry for 2-3 minutes and add coriander leaves after removing from the flame. Add the mixture on the rice and mix it well. Dry roast fenugreek seeds and crush well before sprinkling it on top of the rice before serving.

Mango Rice

Ingredients
Rice: ½ kg

Raw mangoes: 2
Grated coconut: 1 cup
Oil: 5-6 tsp
Mustard: 3-4 tsp
Bengal gram: 2 tsp
Urad dal: 2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds: 2 tsp
Ground nut: 5-6 tsp
Red chillies: 10-12
Curry leaves: 4-5 springs
Turmeric: ½ tsp
Coriander leaves: 2-3 tsp
Asafoetida: A pinch
Salt: To taste

Method
Cook the rice and allow it to cool by spreading it out on a plate. Once it has cooled, add salt and two tablespoons of oil to the rice. Grate the mango and grind it with coconut, two tablespoons of mustard and 10 red chillies and keep the paste aside. Heat the remaining oil and add mustard, urad dal, groundnut, hing, curry leaves and two red chillies. Add turmeric and sauté well. Add the grinded mango paste and stir fry for 2-3 minutes and add coriander leaves after removing from the flame. Add the mixture on the rice and mix it well. Dry roast fenugreek seeds and crush well before sprinkling it on top of the rice before serving.

Chickpea Soup

Another simple Middle East recipe which I learnt recently is Chickpea Soup. It is served along with salads, olives, bread and yoghurt. It often forms the centerpiece of simple peasant meals. It is easy to make and very nice to have in winter days and never lasts long at my home. You can make it versatile by adding almost any vegetable to it to suit your taste. You can either add pasta or chopped spinach or broccoli or mushroom or carrot or any other vegetable. And as the name itself says, it is soup, healthy, plus no oil is used! So, forget about your dieting and enjoy this soup.



Ingredients
Chickpeas: 2 cup, washed and drained
Onion: 2, chopped into small pieces
Potatoes: 2 boiled, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
Water: 8-9 cups
Salt: As per taste
Turmeric powder: ½ tsp
Cumin powder: 1 tsp
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Chili powder: 1 tsp
Pepper powder: ½ tsp
Lemon juice: 1-2 tsp

Method
Soak chickpeas in water overnight. Drain and rinse thoroughly. Take eight cups of water in a large saucepan and add chickpeas and onion. Bring it to a boil, and simmer it for 1 hour (The more it cooks the more well the soup becomes as the chickpeas become softer and the liquid gets thicker and the soup develops a cohesion that it would otherwise lack). Then add potatoes, salt, turmeric, cumin, coriander, chili powder and ¾ cup of water. Bring it to a boil and simmer again for 1 to 1 ½ hours stirring in between. Check for seasoning and add pepper powder and lemon juice before serving.
Note: It is a good idea to taste the soup before adding lemon juice. Chickpea broth has a natural sweetness that you may prefer to leave untouched.

Moru Kozhambu

Rajeshattan’s wife had given moru kozhambu last week and Vij liked it. It was thick with banana, different from what I used to prepare. I got the recipe from her and tried it today. It came out well and of course, Vij like it a lot.




Ingredients
Raw banana — 2
Shredded coconut — 1 cup
Curd — 2 cups
Turmeric powder — 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds — 1 tsp
Mustard seeds — 1 tsp
Green chillies — 4-5
Raw rice — 1 tsp (soaked in water for 10 minutes)
Curry leaves
Dry red chillies — 3-4
Salt

Method
First cut the raw banana into small cubes and cook them in little water with salt, chopped green chillies, curry leaves and turmeric powder.

Grind shredded coconut, soaked raw rice and cumin seeds into a fine paste. Add the paste to the cooking banana cubes and stir it. Bring it to a boil and make sure the raw smell of the coconut has gone completely. Once it is done, add two cups of curd, stir it and immediately remove from the heat.

For seasoning, add little oil and splutter mustard seeds and add dry chillies and curry leaves. Pour this seasoning on the prepared kozhambu.