Tawa Pulao

Tawa pulao is a famous Mumbai street food including the others like Pav bhaji and Vada Pav. I happened to know about this dish during our trip to Mumbai. It was a great sight to watch the street food vendors making Tawa pulao and Pav bhaji simultaneously on a big hot tawa in big batches.

Though we  dint get to taste this at Mumbai, I made up my mind to try this at home. When I searched for the recipe, I found it too be very easy. Pav bhaji masala powder is the star ingredient of the dish. You can add the veggies of your choice. Do try this flavourful and easy rice dish.

What you will need:

• Basmati rice- 1 cup
• Water- 1.5 cup to cook rice
• Potato-1
• Onion-1
• Green peas- a handful
• Tomato-2 medium sized
• Capsicum - 2
• Pav bhaji masala powder- 1.5 tbsp
• Red chilli powder- 1 tsp
• Green chillies- 2
• Cumin- 1/2 tsp
• Butter- 1 tbsp
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Salt - as needed
• Coriander leaves- 2 tbsp chopped
• Lemon juice- 1 tbsp

How to:

1. Wash and rinse the rice well under water and soak it in water for 30 mins. Pressure cook it with little salt, 1.5 cups of water, 1/2 tsp of oil for 2 whistles and switch off.  Once the pressure releases, open the cooker fluff the rice with a fork and spread it on a plate and let it cool down.Peel and chop potato and pressure cook it along with green peas for 2 whistles and switch off.

 

2.Heat oil and butter in a kadai. Add cumin seeds. When they splutter, add finely chopped onion and green chillies. Let it fry for a minute. Add ginger garlic paste.Let it cook till the raw smell leaves.

 

3. Add tomatoes, pav bhaji masala powder, red chlli powder and salt. Let it cook till tomato turns mushy. Add chopped capsicum. Let it cook for just 2 mins so that it remains crispy.

 

4. Add boiled potato and green peas. Mix well and add a handful of water. Let it cook for 2 mins.

 

5. Add Chopped coriander leaves and lemon juice. Check for salt at this stage and adjust. Mix well and add cooked rice. Mix well and switch off.

 

This is one of the easy rice dishes that you can make when you have veggies on hand.

P.S:

• Soak the rice for atleast 30 mins and pressure cook it with 1.5 cups water. So that rice is well cooked as well as the grains are separated.
• You can add carrots, beans , cauliflower too.
• Dont skip pav bhaji masala powder.

Arisimparuppu sadham

This is my ultimate comfort food and a kongu cuisine speciality. Whenever I run out of idli dosa batter or I am in no mood to spend a lot of time in kitchen because my favourite show is on TV or I have to cook something only for myself, i make this.This is such a simple dish but we love it a lot.

I mostly make this for dinner as it tastes well if eaten hot. We have it with ghee and vadagam for first serving and with curd and pickle for second serving.We are so obsessed with this dish that we have a separate rice variety stocked in our store room for this dish.

What you will need:

• Rice- a little more than 3/4 cup
• Toor dal- a little less than 1/4 cup
• Green chillies-3
• Shallots/pearl onions-10
• Chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig
• Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp chopped
• Grated coconut- 2tbsp
• Oil- 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
• Water-2.5 cups
• Salt- as needed

How to:

1.Take rice and dal in a bowl. Rinse and wash well and soak in water for half an hour. Peel shallots and slit green chillies.

 

2.Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add mustard seeds, let it splutter .Add shallots, green chillies and curry leaves. 

 

3. Add 2.5 cups of water. Let it boil. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt.Add rice.

 

4. When it comes to rolling boil, add grated coconut, 1 tbsp of chopped coriander leaves .

 

5. Close the cooker with lid and pressure cook for 3 whistles in medium flame and switch off.

 

6. Once the pressure releases, open lid , add remaining coriander leaves and mix well.

P.S:

• This is a simple version of Arisimparuppu. You can add tomato, garlic. 
• You can replace grated coconut with chopped coconut bits.
• Dont add more dal as it may make rice mushy.
• You can skip chilli powder and use only green chillies.
• You can add pepper and cumin seeds while tempering along with mustard seeds.
• You can add channa dal(kadala paruppu),green gram  dal (pacha payaru),avarai parupu or thatta payaru instead of toor dal.
• Except channa dal and toor dal, others have to be cooked separately and added.
• Before serving you can add coconut oil , mix well and serve.