Coriander Pulav / Kothamalli Pulav / Kothimeera Pulav / Coriander Pulao

Freshness of coriander leaves always add taste and flavour to any food we make. This herb is not only used  for garnishing and its widely used in Indian cuisine for making different varieties of food like coriander chutney, coriander rice / pulav, coriander based gravy in many side dishes, etc., Whenever I go for vegetable shopping, I invariably pick up more coriander bunches than I require for the week. This time, I tried to make coriander pulav / kothamalli pulav for lunch. Without any side dish, we can have this tasty coriander pulav and its an ideal choice for kids too as they like this green colour pulav. Adding few potato pieces and peas to the pulav make the rice more captivating and make it more healthier too..

Ingredients

Fresh Coriander Leaves - 3 or 4 Big bunches.

Tomato - 1 medium

Green Chillies - 3 or 4

Basmati Rice - 1.5 cup

Sugar - 1 pinch

Salt - To Taste

Oil - 3 tbsp

Butter / Ghee - 2 tsp

Onion - 1 Medium

Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp

Cinnamon Sticks - 2 big

Lavang - 5 or 6

Cardamom Seeds / Elachi - 4 or 5

Marathi Moggu - 1 big

Garlic Ginger Paste - 1 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Potato - 1 medium

Peas - 1 Handful

Method

• Wash the Basmati Rice and soak the rice for sometime.
• Grind the washed coriander leaves, one red tomato, green chillies in a mixer grinder and keep it ready.
• n a non-stick vessel or a flat bottomed thick vessel, add ghee or butter first. Then add oil to the pan and when the oil gets heated, add the spices to the oil. Fry them for a minute.
• Add ginger garlic paste to the vessel next. Fry them for a minute till the raw smell goes off.
• Add onions and the grounded paste and fry them for few minutes. Add the potato pieces and peas while frying. Also add the basmati rice to the oil and fry everything for a minute.
• Add water, enough salt, a pinch of sugar to the rice mix and cook them on a low flame.
• For 1 cup of rice , add 1 3/4 th of water. But it depends on the Basmati Rice type too..So, add water according to the variety you use.
• After its completely cooked, switch off the flame. Turn it upside down and garnish with few cashew nuts and coriander leaves before serving.
• This coriander pulav can be eaten with raita or any side dish of your choice.

Puran Poli / Bobbatlu / Poli / Bobbattu / Healthy Bobbattu

Puran Poli / Bobbatlu / Poli / Bobbattu / Healthy Bobbattu

Its all always difficult to control the tongue especially during the festival days. But at least, if we try to make it little more healthier with less oil, we can have one without guilt. We try to make the Poornam Poli / Bobbattu with whole wheat flour only in our house. For Ugadi, I made Poornam Bobbatlu using wheat flour and enjoyed.

Ingredients

For the Dough

Whole Wheat Flour - 4 Cups

Maida - 1 Cup ( For easy spreading )

Salt - To Taste

Oil - 1 tbsp ( for making the dough )

Water - As required for making the dough

For the Poornam

Jaggery - 2 cups ( Depending on your taste )

Toor Dal ( Thuvaram Paruppu in Tamil / Kandi Pappu in Telugu) - 2 Cups

Channa Dal ( Kadalai Paruppu / Senaga Pappu) - 1/2 cup

Cardamom Powder - 1 tbsp

Nutmeg Powder - 1/4 tsp ( Jaathikai / Jajikai )

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Fresh Coconut Flakes - 1 cup

Variations 

1. You can add a pinch of Kesar Yellow food colour if you want your Poli to be colourful but its  optional.
2. You can add mashed sweet potatoes 1 or 2 with the cooked dal to make it more tastier and healthier. 

Method of Preparation

1. Make a dough out of whole wheat flour, little maida , salt and oil like how you make  a dough for a normal chappathi. Keep it aside for sometime.
2. Wash the dals and cook it in a pressure cooker for 4-5 whistles till it becomes soft and mashy.
3. On a thick bottomed vessel, add the cooked dal, fresh coconut flakes, crushed jaggery to make the pooranam. Mix thoroughly and stir for sometime till the jaggery gets melted and form a thick paste.
4. Finally add the cardamom powder, nutmeg powder, ghee to the pooranam.
5. Stir patiently on a medium heat so that it does not stick to the bottom.
6. When it comes to a texture enough to make small balls, turn the heat off and allow it to cool.
7. When you are ready to make the Poli, start making small balls of pooranam and keep it ready.
8. Make a big round chappathi using the dough, keep the pooranam in the centre and cover it fully.
9. Then slowly roll it bigger and bigger by flipping it with that maida flour. Here, the maida really helps to make the Poli in proper shape with all pooranams inside.
10. Then fry the Poli on both sides on a frying pan on medium heat with little oil.
11. This is one of our favourite sweet in our house as it consumes very less oil and good for kids as it has very good protein value too.

Tips

1. While making the Poornam, try not to add water as it might get sticky. This in turn makes it difficult to spread the Poli / Bobbattus.
2. While making the dough, try to make it in right consistency like not too loose and not too tight. Should be medium easier for us to spread the bobbattus.
3. While frying the Polis/Bobbattus in the frying pan, try not to add ghee at that stage. Store all the Polis/Bobbattus in a plate. Just before serving, add some hot ghee and enjoy. I personally feel that adding at the end makes it tastier and better.