Vegetable Tava Pulav with Beetroot

Tava Pulav with Beetroot

Who doesn’t like street food and that to something which is loaded with vegetables? Who doesn’t like Pav-bhaji, tava pulav? At least those who are from Maharashtra? My mouth is watering now just by the thought of it. So here comes a very very easy yet delicious recipe of Tava Pulav which usually we get at the pav-bhaji stand and we order it after we are done with yummy pav-bhaji. I always used to think street food is unhealthy and we shouldn’t consume it, though it never stopped me from having it and relishing it. LOL.

Ingredients:

1. Cooked white rice: 3 Cups
2. Onion: 1 Medium (cut in juliennes or thinly sliced) 
3. Green peas: 1/2 Cup
4. Beetroot: 1 Small (semi-boiled) 
5. Green pepper: 1 Medium (cut in juliennes or thinly sliced) 
6. Tomato: 1 Medium (finely chopped) 
7. Bay leaf: 1 Large
8. Cinnamon stick: 1 Medium
9. Peppercorns: 5-6
10. Clove: 2-3
11. Star-anise flower: 1
12. Cumin seeds: 1 Tbsp.
13. Cumin-coriander powder: 1Tbsp
14. Ginger- Garlic paste: 1 Tbsp.
15. Pav-Bhaji Masala: 2-3 Tbsp. (according to your spice buds)
16. Butter: ½ Stick
17. Coriander/ Cilantro leaves: ½ Cup (finely chopped)
18. Salt: To taste

Procedure: 

1. Take a large pan or wok and put 1/4 stick of butter to it.
2. Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, clove and star anise to it. Sauté nicely till the beautiful aroma of this whole Garam masala fills your kitchen. Put cumin seeds and let them splutter.
3. Now add onion and fry it till crispy golden brown. Do not over fry it to black color.
4. While the onion is getting translucent, take a small microwave safe bowl. Peel the beetroot and make cubes of it. Add 4-5 Tbsp. water to it and microwave on high for 4 min. take it out after 2min and stir a little. If you feel beet is sticking to the bowl, add one more tablespoon of water to it and continue in the microwave. Take it out and keep it aside.
5. Once the onion is done, add tomatoes and little salt. Let it cook till tomatoes are mixed nicely and cooked perfectly.
6. Start adding other vegetables to it starting with green peas, green peppers and beetroot. Saute them well.
   
7. Now add ginger-garlic paste. Stir well.
8. Add remaining spices like cumin-coriander powder, pav-bhaji masala and more salt. I use “Everest” pav-bhaji masala. Stir it well. Put ½ cup of water and put a lid on it. Let it cook till all the vegetables and spices are incorporated well in each other.
9. Once the veggies are cooked, add some cilantro to it and stir well.
   
10. Now add rice (cooked) carefully and slowly to this mixture. Stir it well. Do not stir it vigorously otherwise the rice grains will break and the pulav will lose its beautiful look.
11. Add remaining butter and put the lid on again. Taste the rice and if the salt is less, it is the perfect time to add it. Stir it well.
12. Take the lid off. Take the rice out in a serving bowl and garnish it with the remaining coriander leaves. You may want to take out the whole garam masala or you may garnish the dish with same whole garam masala.
    

Presenting to you a very healthy yet yummilicious street food. If you like this recipe, give a thumps up and please share it with others. Don’t forget to enjoy this yummy and popular street food of India. Happy Cooking!!!! 

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Beetroot, Lentils, Potato Cutlets

Beetroot, Lentils, Potato Cutlets

Beetroot, also known simply as the beet, has been gaining in popularity as a new super food due to recent studies claiming that beets and beetroot juice can improve athletic performance, lower blood pressure and increase blood flow.  It contains potassium, magnesium, iron, vitamins A, B6 and C, folic acid, carbohydrates, protein, antioxidants and soluble fiber. Since I was asked to increase Hemoglobin in my blood, I had to come up with some healthy yet tasty and interesting recipes. All of a sudden someone posted a healthy beetroot recipe on net and I remembered that my mom used to make similar kind of cutlets when we were young. Also in Pune there is a popular joint called “Vaishali” and their cutlets are to die for, and of course they are my favorite too.

Now just didn't want to make beetroot cutlets, so tried adding mixed sprouted lentils to it to make it healthier. Lentils are generally abundant sources of protein. Around 30% of the calories provided by lentils for example come from its protein content. In certain regions of the world, beans and other types of legumes are used as a cheap substitute for meat. So here we go. Let’s enjoy these cutlets.

Ingredients:

Mixed sprouted and boiled lentils

Beetroots: 2 (medium sized boiled)
Mixed-sprouted lentils or legumes: ¾ cup
Potatoes: 2 (medium sized boiled)
Ginger-Garlic paste: 1 Tbsp
Cumin powder: 1 Tbsp
Garam masala powder: 1 Tbsp.
Onion: ½ cup (finely chopped) or Onion powder 1 Tbsp.
Paprika: ½ Tsp
Salt: To taste
Bread crumbs: About 1 Cup or as needed to bind the cutlets
Roasted suzi: About ½ Cup to coat the tikkis
Oil: For shallow frying the tikkis  

Procedure:

Pressure cook beetroots, potatoes and mixed-sprouted lentils in separate containers. If you do not have sprouted lentils ready, do not worry. Just take mixed lentils and boil them or pressure cook them. Also if you do not have mixed lentils, just take any lentils which you have on hand (like moong, mataki, chole, chickpeas etc.) I usually use sprouted lentils for its health benefits. Keep boiled beets and potatoes in the freeze for about an hour or so. This will make it easier at the time of binding the tikkis and will not be extra moist.

Now grate boiled beets, potatoes together add lentils, onions, ginger-garlic paste, salt and all the masalas to the mixture. Mix it well and add bread crumbs (for binding) to make tikkis out of it. You may need more or less bread crumbs as per your mixture. Make round, oval or any shaped tikkis according to your preference and keep them aside. Now coat the tikkis in roasted suzi. 

Take a pan or tava and add little oil to it. The tava should not be very hot. Start assembling the tikkis on the tava and shallow fry them till golden-brown from both the sides. It will become little crunchy if you fry them a little longer which obviously tastes better. Serve them hot with tomato ketchup or any chutney of your choice.

Note:

You may add any veggies of your choice. You may also add grated cheese in the mixture. Add all the spices according to your taste buds. Some people prefer not to boil the beet and just grate it but we in our family like it boiled which is easier to make the tikkis.  

Don’t forget to enjoy this yummy snack item. Happy Cooking!!!! 

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