Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Amma's Vegetable Bhath

This Bhath recipe is my Mother-in-law's whom I affectionately call amma. She has been making this for many years and everyone who has tasted this has fallen in love with it. It is favourite among our whole family and is made often on demand. She usually makes this for breakfast and when this is made I have it for all meals!! It is very simple to make yet flavourful. 
On the day I was to travel from Mangalore to Shanghai, amma invited my parents over for lunch and few of my friends. [My hubby was already in Shanghai and I joined him later as my papers were not done yet]. She asked me what to make and my only request was to make this bhath. My mother and she whipped up all my favs :). My flight was in the in the evening at 6 or so. So I had this for breakfast, lunch and also evening tea!! Such is my love for this. 
After coming here hubby too was reminded of this bhath and would always tell me to make "Amma's pulao". One fine day I called her up and got the recipe from her and made it. It was not as perfect as she makes it (probably it was missing her touch!) but was indeed enjoyed by both of us happily.
Here is what's needed:
1 cup Basmati Rice or any long grain rice 
2 cups  chopped vegetables like Cauliflower,Carrot, Beans, Potato
1 small green Capsicum chopped
1 medium Tomato chopped 
1 medium Onion chopped
8-10 Cashews broken (Optional)
Salt  & Sugar to taste
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
5-8 curry leaves (I do not add as I dont get them easily here)
2 tbps Oil/ Ghee (Ghee definitely tastes better)

To grind:
2 green Cardamoms
2-3 Cloves
1 inch Cinnamon
1/2 cup fresh grated Coconut
2-3 green Chilli's
1 Bay leaf
1 star Anise
1 tsp Poppy seeds
1/3 cup Coriander leaves
3-4 Garlic cloves
1/2 tsp Coriander seeds
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 Onion
small piece of Ginger
small piece of Tamarind

Procedure:
1) Cook Rice and drain it. Fluff with fork and let it cool down.
2) Meanwhile make a paste with ingredients mentioned under "To grind" with little water.
3) Heat Oil/Ghee. Add Mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add in the curry leaves if using & broken cashews fry until golden.
4) Add Onion and little salt. Saute until transparent.Add in chopped tomato. Saute for few mins and add the ground masala and continue to saute until the raw smell goes off. 
5) Add in the chopped veggies and capsicum and saute it. Sprinkle water if you notice the paste sticking to the bottom of the Pan. It usually happens to me since I add lesser Oil than actually required! Cover and cook until the veggies are done and is still crunchy to bite on.
6) Add Salt and Sugar to taste. Add in the cooked rice and mix well until the rice has nicely blended with the masala. Take care not to break the rice. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 mins. 
Serve hot with Tomato-Onion Raita.

I am sending away this Pulao over to Srivalli who is hosting Rice mela. I am also sending Nucchi~ Coconut riceUndi ~ Steamed Rice Balls over to participate in the mela. Thanks srivalli for this wonderful event.




13 comments:

Unknown said...

I make a similar kind of bhaat with lot of spices..yours sounds good..nice post..

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

Wow I liked the color and veggies that you have mentioned are all readily available at anyones pantry a great dish...

lankythoughts said...

Are you spying us ? We had Undi for breakfast :-P

By the way, there is a whole line of Rice Bhaths. Which one is this for ?

One unique rice stuff that many people dont know of is rice puttu . Google it up.

Do you also know that people make Odi (AKA Sandige) out of cooked rice ? Tastes different and is good for a change from our regular sandiges. If you want, mail me, and I will send you the recipe.

Yasmeen said...

Flavorful rice,no wonder it can be relished in all 3 meals of the day:)

Uma said...

Wow, the vegetable bath looks so colorful and delicious. First time here. Nice blog.

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

you know what, i made your rice for lunch today and it was awesome! very delicious.. every1 shud try it.thx for the recipe.

Srikitchen said...

wow! looks ummy and to feel hungry!

lubnakarim06 said...

Looks aromatic and toothsome.

Unknown said...

Wow this rice dish sounds great to me. So many varieties of ingredients and it must be delicious.

Sum Raj said...

my mom makes the same way but only diference is she had garam masala instead of whole spice.,nice to know ur konkani..by the way mee too konkani and I 2 live in mangalore after marrage...:)

anudivya said...

That is a long ingredient list, and I bet it tastes wonderful!

Uj said...

Sowmya,
They indeed taste good with fresh masala. do try it

Ramya,
Thanks. Yes it is indeed tasty. some my amma makes it without adding veggies too!

Vinayakanna,
Yes I do know about it but the weather is not the one to make odi's. Love them though!

Yasmeen,
It is indeed flavourful.

Uma,
Thanks, Keep visiting.

Uj said...

Mahima,
Thanks dear for trying this out. Glad you loved it as we do :)

SriLekha,
Try it.. Tastes good

KF,
It is :)

Shibani,
Though the list is long its really easy to make and tastes great too.

Suma,
Yes it can be replaced with garam masala but I love the flavor and aroma of freshly ground spices

Divya,
It does and tastes great too. Give it a try